Black Death is back

[Troll]

Link

The bubonic plague, which killed millions of people in medieval England, is making a return in the world, an ecology expert in Liverpool claims.
Research by Professor Michael Begon at the University of Liverpool revealed the deadly disease, also known as the Black Death, has re-emerged.

[NotAllThere]

It's never been away.

[expat]

Link

The bubonic plague, which killed millions of people in medieval England, is making a return in the world, an ecology expert in Liverpool claims.
Research by Professor Michael Begon at the University of Liverpool revealed the deadly disease, also known as the Black Death, has re-emerged.

It has never gone away. Inter alia, it occurs a couple of dozen times every summer in SW states of the US.

[Ardesco]

It has never gone away. Inter alia, it occurs a couple of dozen times every summer in SW states of the US.

It also attacks the body in the same way that HIV does, if I remember right from a documentry I saw a couple of years ago. They found a genetic marker which made people immune, or semi immune to the bubonic plague by digging up the bones of people known to survive it and found a mutated gene. They then did the same test to some american guy who seems to be immune to aids and he had the same mutated gene. Considering how long ago this program was on i'm surprised they haven't said more about it, mind you finding out a mutation makes you immune to it and trying to make the mutation in somebody through gene threpy is a whole different ball game....

If anything you could say that HIV is an evolution of bubonic plague.

[KathyWoolfe]

It has never gone away. Inter alia, it occurs a couple of dozen times every summer in SW states of the US.

The only reason that people think it has gone away is that it causes far fewer deaths than it used to.

It's the same with Tuberculosis (consumption in Victorian times). Still with us but far less of a problem than it used to be.

[Troll]

It's the same with Tuberculosis (consumption in Victorian times). Still with us but far less of a problem than it used to be.

also on the increase in this country- dare I say- as the result of migration

[KathyWoolfe]

also on the increase in this country- dare I say- as the result of migration

More than likely due to migration. The black death in medieval times was only an epidemic (apart from the fact that they didn't know how to cure or prevent it) because people already carrying the problem fled the infected areas into untouched areas and therefore spreading the problem. Not possible these days with the stricter medical screening going on I wouldn't have thought.

[Troll]

More than likely due to migration. The black death in medieval times was only an epidemic (apart from the fact that they didn't know how to cure or prevent it) because people already carrying the problem fled the infected areas into untouched areas and therefore spreading the problem. Not possible these days with the stricter medical screening going on I wouldn't have thought.

Was talking about TB there!

[BrowneIssue]

also on the increase in this country- dare I say- as the result of migration

No - because inoculation stopped years ago.

[Troll]

No - because inoculation stopped years ago.

Why did it stop? .... and then why might we want to restart it