The Plague: Origin

ambience: Renn music

Sweeping across Western Europe in the 14th century, the Black Death wiped out nearly a quarter of the population, without regard for class, age, or gender. And all it took was a flea bite. I’m Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Known as the bubonic plague, or Black Death, this infectious disease was spread by fleas that lived on mice and rats. Whenever they had the opportunity, the fleas hopped off their hosts and onto the inviting warmth emanating from human bodies. Characterized by high fever, aching limbs, vomiting of blood, and the swelling of blackened lymph nodes, the Plague was thought by many to be the end of the world. Where did such a treacherous disease begin and how did it spread? Norman Cantor, Professor Emeritus of History at New York University, says that the origins of the Plague are difficult to trace.

“Some historians think it started in China and was spread westward by a Mongol invasion of the Middle East in the thirteenth century. More recent scholars, think that the Plague began in East Africa, where human life first appeared around 3 million BC. A whole series of infectious diseases, beginning with small pox and right up to HIV today, and including bubonic plague, seem to have started in East Africa and moved up through the Sudan and Egypt through the Nile Valley and into the Mediterranean. Italy was a transference point in the fourteenth century. That is, the Italian ships brought the disease from the eastern Mediterranean into northern Italy and then, from there, it migrated into northern Europe.”

We’ll hear more about the Plague in future programs.

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.

The Plague: Origin

Scholars have traced the routes of global epidemics, but the roots of infectious diseases, like bubonic plague, are still unclear.
Air Date:09/19/2001
Scientist:
Transcript:


ambience: Renn music

Sweeping across Western Europe in the 14th century, the Black Death wiped out nearly a quarter of the population, without regard for class, age, or gender. And all it took was a flea bite. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet.

Known as the bubonic plague, or Black Death, this infectious disease was spread by fleas that lived on mice and rats. Whenever they had the opportunity, the fleas hopped off their hosts and onto the inviting warmth emanating from human bodies. Characterized by high fever, aching limbs, vomiting of blood, and the swelling of blackened lymph nodes, the Plague was thought by many to be the end of the world. Where did such a treacherous disease begin and how did it spread? Norman Cantor, Professor Emeritus of History at New York University, says that the origins of the Plague are difficult to trace.

"Some historians think it started in China and was spread westward by a Mongol invasion of the Middle East in the thirteenth century. More recent scholars, think that the Plague began in East Africa, where human life first appeared around 3 million BC. A whole series of infectious diseases, beginning with small pox and right up to HIV today, and including bubonic plague, seem to have started in East Africa and moved up through the Sudan and Egypt through the Nile Valley and into the Mediterranean. Italy was a transference point in the fourteenth century. That is, the Italian ships brought the disease from the eastern Mediterranean into northern Italy and then, from there, it migrated into northern Europe."

We'll hear more about the Plague in future programs.

Pulse of the Planet is presented by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.