the bubonic plague does not come from rats

[jeffengberg]

I saw a documentary about the origin of the black death. The authors claim that the bubonic plague could not have come from rats or fleas. THe plague must have been delivered through the air and transported by humans. I the rat story just another urban myth?

[Antigen]

The Bubonic plague is caused by a type of bacteria called Yersinia pestis. This site has more information about transmission of the disease and different host animals for the bacteria.

Basically, yes, it could be transmitted person-to-person. Living in close contact with rats and fleas, though, which was common then, was another pretty good way to find yourself infected.

[C_K_Dexter_Haven]

Welcome to the Straight Dope Message Board, jeff, glad to have you with us.

When you are commenting on one of Cecil’s columns, it is helpful to other readers if you provide a link to that column. In this case, I’m not sure what you’re referencing. Cecil never says that bubonic plague is caused by rats, he does say, in the column Can rats swim up through the (urk) toilet that

…rats can carry or transmit typhus, spirochetal jaundice, tularemia, trichinosis, leishmaniasis, leptospirosis, bubonic plague–and rabies. The CDC confirm this.

I’m going to be generous and assume that’s what you’re commenting on. Otherwise, I’d move this to General Questions forum.

[Nathan_S]

The accepted theory is that the 1348 outbreak was caused and spread by rat based fleas. This theory is not universally accepted, however. R.S. Bray’s Armies of Pestilence, while not devoted exclusively to the plague, makes for absorbing (albeit terrifying) reading. I’d also recommend In the Wake of the Plague, by Norman Cantor; it’s an easier read than Bray’s book, and touches on many of interesting historical tangents.

[NutMagnet]

In “A Distant Mirror”, Barbara Tuchman, who appears to be a meticulous researcher, says that there were actually two strains of the plague. One was transmitted by flea bites and one was airborne, transmitted through breath.

For it to have spread so wide, it cannot have been transmitted only virally. Much like the ebola virus, it killed quickly in most cases, which serves to confine it to a “small” area.

[Captain_Amazing]

Here is the CDC’s plague page. They seem to think its transmitted through fleas in its bubonic form.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dvbid/plague/

As the CDC says:

Plague is usually transmitted to humans by the bites of infected rodent fleas. During rodent plague outbreaks, many animals die and their hungry fleas seek other sources of blood to survive. Persons and animals that visit places where rodents have recently died from plague risk getting the disease from flea bites. Persons also can become directly infected through handling infected rodents, rabbits, or wild carnivores that prey on these animals, when plague bacteria enter through breaks in the person’s skin. House cats also are susceptible to plague. Infected cats become sick and may directly transmit plague to persons who handle or care for them. Also, dogs and cats may bring plague-infected fleas into the home. Inhaling droplets expelled by the coughing of a plague-infected person or animal (especially house cats) can result in plague of the lungs (plague pneumonia). Transmission of plague pneumonia from person to person is uncommon but sometimes results in dangerous epidemics that can quickly spread.