

Black death was not spread by rat fleas, say researchers - pessimizer
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/mar/29/black-death-not-spread-rat-fleas-london-plague

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ddeck
This doesn't sound like anything new. As I understand it, it is well known
that there were three distinct forms of plague during the "black death"
epidemic: Bubonic, pnuemonic, and septicemic.

Below are quotes from letter sent from the papal court at Avignon in 1348:

 _" It is said that the plague takes three forms. In the first people suffer
an infection of the lungs, which leads to breathing difficulties. Whoever has
this corruption or contamination to any extent cannot escape but will die
within two days. Another form...in which boils erupt under the armpits,...a
third form in which people of both sexes are attacked in the groin._

 _..._

 _And this form is the most dangerous of all these terrible things, which is
to say that it is the most contagious, for when one infected person dies
everyone who saw him during his illness, visited him, had any dealings with
him, or carried him to burial, immediately follows him, without any remedy. "_
[1]

[1] Letter from Louis Heyligen of Beeringen (27 April 1348) , via "Horrox,
Rosemary (1994). Black Death"

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thret
As usual, comments on HN are more interesting than the article. Thank you.

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rkuykendall-com
Interesting note: This is not sourced from a research paper, but a sound bite
to build interest in a documentary airing this weekend.

While the source, Tim Brooks, seems credible [1], I will be interested when
more actual information comes out.

[1]
[http://apps.who.int/whocc/Detail.aspx?cc_ref=UNK-122&cc_code...](http://apps.who.int/whocc/Detail.aspx?cc_ref=UNK-122&cc_code=unk)

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Steko
Nothing revolutionary here. Wiki black death:

 _" Many modern scholars accept that the lethality of the Black Death stemmed
from the combination of bubonic and pneumonic plague with other diseases and
warn that every historical mention of 'pest' was not necessarily bubonic
plague..."_

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damian2000
So the plague doctor costumes that I'd heard were just for show actually
served a useful purpose - to restrict the breathing of contaminated air?

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_doctor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plague_doctor)

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7schlaefer
The actual bad smell of infected people was believed to be unhealthy, so afaik
most plague masks were built to provide a "good" smell through herbs or
incent, but it seems plausible that some of them helped nonetheless.

