Re: RC: Re: Fw: Fw: Scratches, Sauerkraut, & Hints From Heloise

["Truman Prevatt, PhD" <truman.prevatt@netsrq.com>]

I guess it depends on which plague to which is being referred. The plague is a
fairly general term. Bubonic is spread by the rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis, which
is a parasite of the brown rat.  The pneumonic plague was spread most often by
the droplets sprayed from the lungs and mouth of infected persons. Of course
infection could spread from the lungs to other parts of the body, which resulted
in septicemic plague which infected the blood. Sepeticemic plague also could be
initiated by direct contact of of contaminated hands, food or other objects.

So in one of the particular "plagues" the rat flea was the carrier, but it was
not the only way to spread "the plague" in Europe.

At least that's what my history book says.

Truman


Susan Garlinghouse wrote:

> > > When the plague hit London The whole city was quarantined, the country
> > folk
> > > would leave food and produce at  the city wall, the city folk would come
> > out and
> > > take the produce, they would leave the payment  (all money was in coins)
> > in a
> > > bowl of vinegar so as not to spread the disease. At least this was what
> I
> > was
> > > taught in my school history class.
>
> Ummmmm....except that plague is spread by the bite of infected fleas.<g>
> But it's nifty trivia. :-))))))  (maybe the fleas jumped into the bowl of
> vinegar and all drowned???)
>
> Susan G
>
>

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