Abstract
It is suggested that the outbreak of the ‘plague’ in Athens in the fifth century BC was caused by mouldy food containing immunosuppressive mycotoxins, including the irritant T-2 toxin produced by certain Fusarium micro-fungi. Attica, a small hilly, coastal city-state, had to import its cereal grains from overseas; however, because of the Peloponnesian war and the occupation of its port, Peiraeus, by enemy forces, scarcity of food may have forced the population of the overcrowded Athens to consume any food, even when mouldy. This happened in the Orenburg district of the USSR during World War II, when an outbreak of ‘alimentary toxic aleukia' caused a great number of fatalities.
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