Funny, I always thought it was the fleas
Posted: Tue Feb 24, 2015 9:03 am
Just read this on BBC site, today. A new study blames Gerbils for the Black Death.
BBC News - Gerbils replace rats as main cause of Black Death
Black rats may not have been to blame for numerous outbreaks of the bubonic plague across Europe, a study suggests.
Scientists believe repeat epidemics of the Black Death, which arrived in Europe in the mid-14th Century, instead trace back to gerbils from Asia.
Prof Nils Christian Stenseth, from the University of Oslo, said: "If we're right, we'll have to rewrite that part of history."
I know that here in the Western US, Bubonic Plague shows up in colonies of Prairie Dogs, now and again. And on the rare occasion, a human or two pick it up.
But I never heard that there were a lot of gerbils running about Europe back in those days.
BBC News - Gerbils replace rats as main cause of Black Death
Black rats may not have been to blame for numerous outbreaks of the bubonic plague across Europe, a study suggests.
Scientists believe repeat epidemics of the Black Death, which arrived in Europe in the mid-14th Century, instead trace back to gerbils from Asia.
Prof Nils Christian Stenseth, from the University of Oslo, said: "If we're right, we'll have to rewrite that part of history."
I know that here in the Western US, Bubonic Plague shows up in colonies of Prairie Dogs, now and again. And on the rare occasion, a human or two pick it up.
But I never heard that there were a lot of gerbils running about Europe back in those days.