1/29/14 12:49 PM

"...the ecological reservoir for plague, the historical reservoir, is in China..."

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2014/01/29/267598868/ancient-plagues-dna-revived-from-a-1-500-year-old-tooth

Last edited by walter on 1/29/14 12:57 PM; edited 1 time in total

1/29/14 12:56 PM

"Overall, this ancient strain is not that different from modern ones that still circulate in places like Arizona"

??

1/29/14 1:00 PM

its not that those old plagues were necessarily so virulent compared to modern stuff, humanity just didnt have a clue about how it all worked -- how anything worked. hell, the bronchitis i had a few weeks ago probably would have taken out a whole village back then!

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"The biology of the pathogen no doubt could cause another pandemic if it weren't for the changes in human culture and medicine," Keim says.

These days, though, antibiotics can quickly stop plague outbreaks in their tracks.

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1/29/14 1:08 PM

From my recent micro class.

Many diseases start in china because of their lifestyle. Unlike most of the western world they live in close contact with both livestock and each other. Because of this lifestyle, mutated viruses can then jump from animal to people more easily.

Last edited by ErikS on 1/29/14 1:47 PM; edited 1 time in total

1/29/14 1:39 PM

If you haven't read this book I recommend it, it is a good read and it puts most of what we learned years ago in school on its head. North and South America were not a "wilderness" and was home to advanced civilizations. The native civilizations were wiped out largely b/c of exposure to European diseases as the native Americans did not have domesticated animals giving them immunity from the diseases Europeans were largely immune from as Europeans had lived in close proximity with domesticated animals for centuries as Erik pointed out now with China...history repeating itself w/o the consequences at present

1/29/14 1:44 PM

well, the consequences are there...just much, much smaller. knowledge of disease transmission, availability of various medicines, and global early-warning all help alot.

1/29/14 2:14 PM

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These days, though, antibiotics can quickly stop plague outbreaks in their tracks.

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1/29/14 2:35 PM

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These days, though, antibiotics can quickly stop plague outbreaks in their tracks.

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As everyone knows, these things mutate and there is no guarantee antibiotics will work. Golgafrincham...

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1/29/14 2:36 PM

Yes, good old Bubonic Plague is still present in the US desert regions, Ariz., New Mexico, Calif., Colorado, Oregon, etc...

I recall from my 10 years of summers in NM to be cautious, including NEVER going near a dead rodent of any kind.

1/29/14 2:41 PM

Total BS, WRONG AND DANGEROUS.

Many bacteria are becoming antibiotic resistant due to patients not completing the cycle, the resistant bacteria survive and then are able to pass that resistance trait between like bacteria and even different strains.

On top of that most of the current epidemic/pandemic events are viral in nature. Antibiotics are useless against viral attacks.

In fact antibiotic resistant bacteria are a huge concern in the medical fields and should be a concern to all of us. Some think in 25-50 years we will be back to the pre antibiotic days and many people will be killed because of or inability to control patients and doctors who pass out broad spectrum ABs like candy.

Bacteria are some of the best proof of evolution around.

1/29/14 4:48 PM

Read the book "The Great Mortality" by John Kelly for a very detailed description of the history of the "Black Death" bubonic plague that wiped out 1/3 to 1/2 of the population of Europe in the 14th Century. It had social consequences far beyond just the death toll.

1/29/14 8:06 PM

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Many bacteria are becoming antibiotic resistant due to patients not completing the cycle

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1/30/14 8:24 AM

Don't forget to sanitize your telephone...

1/30/14 7:17 PM

Is that new? Or suddenly news worthy?

It's well known and well documented plague started in Asia and went to Europe from there. What changed???

Or is this something the under-educated Americans recently rediscovered from the text book they didn't read???

I would have expected better from NPR.

By the way, plague comes from rat, not domestic animals. Well, at least I'm not aware of any human ever domesticated rats to server any purpose.

1/31/14 5:31 AM

I was not referring to BP. The way people get BP is because they get bit by fleas which have bitten infected animals.

1/31/14 12:30 PM

Plague actually isn't a virual disease, but that's nitpicking on my part. ;-)

Chinese isn't the only culture that live in close proximity with domestic animals. I always thought it's got more to do with the population density. Lots more chance for inter-person transmittion and mutation along the way.

1/31/14 2:40 PM

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By the way, plague comes from rat, not domestic animals.

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1/31/14 3:58 PM

1/31/14 6:10 PM

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traced to a large marmot colony in Mongolia.

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1/31/14 7:38 PM

On my nightstand now.

1/31/14 8:58 PM

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The origin of the "Black Death" plague that devastated Europe in the mid-14th Century was traced to a large marmot colony in Mongolia.

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It's ironic. The Mongols invaded China and made it quite far West as well.

The fleas got even further and did a more devastating job.

The plague also help topple the Mongols. So the Han Chinese could rebel and end the Yuan dynasty.

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