Everything you know about the Black Death

is wrongSort of

This is one of 25 skeletons unearthed in London that had the Black Death

It was found in a mass grave unearthed while building a railway tunnel

What?????? Everything is Wrong??????Well, some things you know about the Black Death are correct. Such as:1) It did originate in Asia2) It was carried by Italian merchants to Genoa3) The Black Death is caused by the Y. Pestis bacteria carried by rats

However, the disease spread too quickly for rats to be entirely at fault

The rats carried “bubonic plague”In order to get it, one needed to come into contact with a person who had it or a rat that carried it

The Black Death of the 1300’s was “pneumonic plague”It was still Y. Pestis bacteria, but it got into people’s lungs and spread through the air by 1)coughing or 2)sneezing.This accounted for the speed and devastation of the plague

Bubonic plague still occurs in a few patients every yearA treatment of anti-biotics usually cures it if it is diagnosed in time

In addition to dying from the Plague, these skeletons had other things in common:

1) They had a Vitamin D deficiency2) They had back trouble indicating they had to work hard and carry

heavy things most of their lives3) They had a lot of broken bones believed to have come from fighting

Basically all had signs that life in the middle ages was difficult and hard and short

Source:McCoy, Terrence. "Everything You Know about the Black Death Is Wrong." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 31 Mar. 2014. Web. 15 Oct. 2014