In grade school, we learned that the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death was a terrible disease that spread throughout Europe. During the 1340’s, the plague killed over 60% of its population or 25 million people. In this case of the plague, people were dying so quickly that there was barely any evidence left behind for researchers to study, but it wasn’t until the same epidemic started to arise in Madagascar last year that researchers started to look more closely into the disease. The case in Madagascar took only 60 lives, but the question is where did it come from and how did it spread?
We were told that the Bubonic Plague was spread through infected fleas that came from rats, even though it wasn’t proven. People believed in this theory for years but many researchers did not want to stop there. They wanted to do and know more.
On Sunday, London scientists started to look at 25 skeletons that were dug up in London by an abandoned church earlier this year. All the skeletons showed signs of the Bubonic Plague. When the London scientists began to look more closely at the skeletons, they noticed signs of malnutrition and “rickets,” a deficiency of vitamin D. Also, the skeletons showed upper body injuries, suggesting that the people were involved in a lot of fights, which is understandable seeing that many fights broke out during the Middle Ages in order to get food or to protect one’s family from those who would try to rob them of their possessions.
The poor health hints at how easily the plague swept across the continent. The disease was pneumonic – not bubonic – meaning that coughing and sneezing likely spread the sickness. Then, rampant malnutrition perhaps widened its range. Even though more research is still currently being done, it seems like many history textbooks need to be rewritten. The plauge was not spread through fleas, but rather it was airborn.