# Was it gerbils or rats that spread the Bubonic Plague from Asia to Europe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2017, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125 "2017-11-30T05:45:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125/1 "2017-11-30T05:45:33Z")
Hi I see more and more articles saying it was gerbils, not rats that spread the Bubonic Plague from Asia to Europe. Is there anything definitive about this claim? I look forward to your feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125/2 "2017-11-30T06:11:58Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Hi > I see more and more articles saying it was gerbils, not rats that spread the Bubonic Plague from Asia to Europe. Is there anything definitive about this claim? Misreporting. The [original article](http://www.pnas.org/content/112/10/3020.abstract) that inspired all the news reports was just concerned with an interesting correlation between plague outbreaks and particular climate conditions in Asia. The idea is that certain years would have been propitious for a rodent/plague explosion that could have then leaped from Asia to Europe, reintroducing the disease and kicking off a new epidemic/pandemic. In other words the zoonotic reservoir for plague was in Asia, rather than in Europe and the outbreaks of disease were periodic reintroductions from Asia. The _reservoir_ then( as now )may have included certain gerbils, ground squirrels and marmots. But those critters aren’t terribly vagile and don’t extend into Europe. The study downplayed black rats as the _only_ source of the disease, but in no ways dismissed them, indicating that they were probably a vector in warm water ports. So gerbils( specfically the [Great Gerbil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_gerbil), a prairie dog-like critter - not the pet species, which is the Mongolian Gerbil )did not necessarily spread the disease, they just harbored it and probably no more than any of the other rodent species mentioned in the paper. In CA for instance a variety of rodents harbor plague, most commonly ground squirrels. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125/3 "2017-11-30T06:25:39Z")
Were there a lot of mobile gerbils? This sounds like propaganda spread by rats, to me. Rats are pretty mobile. They can swim up to 50 miles and chew their way through almost anything. They seem like much better candidates for spreading disease, just because they get around. ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125/4 "2017-11-30T06:49:22Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Misreporting. The [original article](http://www.pnas.org/content/112/10/3020.abstract) that inspired all the news reports was just concerned with an interesting correlation between plague outbreaks and particular climate conditions in Asia. The idea is that certain years would have been propitious for a rodent/plague explosion that could have then leaped from Asia to Europe, reintroducing the disease and kicking off a new epidemic/pandemic. > > In other words the zoonotic reservoir for plague was in Asia, rather than in Europe and the outbreaks of disease were periodic reintroductions from Asia. The _reservoir_ then( as now )may have included certain gerbils, ground squirrels and marmots. But those critters aren’t terribly vagile and don’t extend into Europe. The study downplayed black rats as the _only_ source of the disease, but in no ways dismissed them, indicating that they were probably a vector in warm water ports. > > So gerbils( specfically the [Great Gerbil](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_gerbil), a prairie dog-like critter - not the pet species, which is the Mongolian Gerbil )did not necessarily spread the disease, they just harbored it and probably no more than any of the other rodent species mentioned in the paper. In CA for instance a variety of rodents harbor plague, most commonly ground squirrels. Thanks Tamerlane. Very helpful. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125/5 "2017-11-30T09:14:40Z")
Note that it was definitely _R rattus_ that spread it to Madagascar and continues - to this day! - to be the reservoir for it there. A colleague is going to Madagascar next week…I think we should de-flea him before we let him back into the office. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125/6 "2017-11-30T09:24:45Z")
Fleas, especially Pulex irritans, is a real problem for humans. When I worked for the NHS, I managed some cars that were used by Health Visitors. One of them went to a house that was infested and carried some back to her car, and then to her own home. It cost us a fair amount to de-flea car and house - not to mention the distress caused to her husband and three children. At least they weren’t carrying plague. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125/7 "2017-11-30T23:17:22Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > Were there a lot of mobile gerbils? This sounds like propaganda spread by rats, to me. Rats are pretty mobile. They can swim up to 50 miles and chew their way through almost anything. They seem like much better candidates for spreading disease, just because they get around. Rats have their own propaganda department now? ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/was-it-gerbils-or-rats-that-spread-the-bubonic-plague-from-asia-to-europe/803125/8 "2017-12-01T02:12:27Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Rats have their own propaganda department now? Well yeah. You realize that squirrels are just rats with fluffy tails and good PR?