Bubonic Plague Research Articles

Spatiotemporal analysis of bubonic plague in Pernambuco, northeast of Brazil: Case study in the municipality of Exu.

Along with other countries in America, plague reached Brazil through the sea routes during the third pandemic. A brief ports phase was followed by an urban phase that took place in smaller inland cities and finally, it attained the rural area and established several foci where the ecological conditions were suitable for its continued existence. However, the geographic dispersion of plague in Brazil is still poorly studied. To better understand the disease dynamics, we accessed satellite-based data to trace the spatial occurrence and distribution of human plague cases in Pernambuco, Northeastern Brazil and using the municipality of Exu as study case area. Along with the satellite data, a historical survey using the Plague Control Program files was applied to characterize the spatial and temporal dispersion of cases in the period of 1945-1976. Kernel density estimation, spatial and temporal clusters with statistical significance and maximum entropy modeling were used for spatial data analysis, by means of the spatial analysis software packages. The use of geostatistical tools allowed evidencing the shift of the infection from the urban to the wild-sylvatic areas and the reemergence of cases after a period of quiescence, independent of the reintroduction from other plague areas.

Calamitas terrena ou Poena divina : Une approche éliadienne de la peste dans le roman Sortez vos morts de Bruno Leydet

"Calamitas terrena or Poena divina: An Eliadian Approach to the Plague in the Novel Sortez vos morts by Bruno Leydet. The article proposes a dichotomous analysis of the outbreak of the Black Plague in Marseille (1720), described by French writer Bruno Leydet in the novel Sortez vos morts, which appeared in 2005. According to the grid established by Mircea Eliade, the analysis is built on two levels: the sacred and the profane. The religious as well as the modern perception of the disease and the use of a relevant lexis allow the bubonic plague to transgress the historical space, passing into the literary one. The plague epidemic in southern France is, in our view, not only a manifestation of the divine will to punish the sinful souls of the dead, but also the incarnation of greed and vicious side of the human being. Keywords: plague, Bruno Leydet, Mircea Eliade, holy, unholy "

Genetic differentiation of geographic populations of Rattus tanezumi based on the mitochondrial Cytb gene.

Rattus tanezumi is a common domestic rat and host of the bubonic plague pathogen in China and Southeast Asia (SEA). The origin, genetic differentiation and dispersal of R. tanezumi have received increasing attention from researchers. The population genetics of R. tanezumi based on its mitochondrial cytochrome b gene have been studied to explain the origin, relationships and dispersal of populations. In this study, we captured a total of 229 rats; morphological and molecular biological identification cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) confirmed 131 R. tanezumi individuals collected from 6 provincial areas, and their Cytb gene sequences were analyzed. The results showed that the population in Mohan (MH), Yunnan, had the highest genetic diversity, while that in Ningde (ND), Fujian, had the lowest. Tajima’s D statistic for all populations was negative and nonsignificant, indicating the possible expansion of R. tanezumi populations. Low gene flow occurred between the Zhangmu (ZM) R. tanezumi population and other populations, and the genetic differentiation among them was high. Furthermore, our analyses revealed the ZM lineage was the oldest lineage among the groups and diverged ~1.06 Mya, followed by the Luoyang (LY) lineages (~0.51 Mya) and Yunnan lineage (~0.33 Mya). In southeastern Yunnan, the Jinshuihe (JSH) and MH populations were more closely related to the populations in southeastern China (Fuzhou (FZ), ND, Quanzhou (QZ), Nanchang (NC)) and inland areas (Chongqing (CQ), LY) than to those in other areas of Yunnan (Jiegao (JG) and Qingshuihe (QSH)), indicating that R. tanezumi may have spread from southeastern Yunnan to the interior of China. In summary, R. tanezumi may have originated in ZM and adjacent areas, spread to Yunnan, and then spread from the southeast of Yunnan inland or directly eastward from ZM to inland China.

The Justinianic Plague’s Origins and Consequences

The bubonic plague is an extremely old disease (apparentely from the late Neolitic era). The so-called “Justinianic plague” of the sixth century was the first well-attested outbreak of bubonic plague in the history of the Mediterranean world. It was thought that the Justinianic Plague, along with barbarian invasions, contributed directly to the so-called “Fall of the Roman Empire.”

Transadvertising of Western pharmaceutical products in The Chinese Mail (1895–1910)

ABSTRACT This study investigates how English advertisements for Western pharmaceutical products were appropriated to meet the expectations of local consumers in The Chinese Mail, one of the major Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong, between 1895 and 1910. The Chinese advertisements for these foreign medical products are compared to their English counterparts, and the adaptation of brand names and advertising content to the discourse of Traditional Chinese Medicine is analysed. This study reveals that the Western pharmaceutical products marketed in Hong Kong were closely related to the bubonic plague of 1894 and the prostitution industry and that the juxtaposition of Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine discourses in Chinese advertising highlights the discrepancy between these two medical discourses.

Protection Elicited by Attenuated Live Yersinia pestis Vaccine Strains against Lethal Infection with Virulent Y. pestis.

The etiologic agent of plague, Yersinia pestis, is a globally distributed pathogen which poses both a natural and adversarial threat. Due largely to the rapid course and high mortality of pneumonic plague, vaccines are greatly needed. Two-component protein vaccines have been unreliable and potentially vulnerable to vaccine resistance. We evaluated the safety and efficacy of eight live Y. pestis strains derived from virulent strains CO92 or KIM6+ and mutated in one or more virulence-associated gene(s) or cured of plasmid pPst. Stringent, single-dose vaccination allowed down-selection of the two safest and most protective vaccine candidates, CO92 mutants pgm- pPst- and ΔyscN. Both completely protected BALB/c mice against subcutaneous and aerosol challenge with Y. pestis. Strain CD-1 outbred mice were more resistant to bubonic (but not pneumonic) plague than BALB/c mice, but the vaccines elicited partial protection of CD-1 mice against aerosol challenge, while providing full protection against subcutaneous challenge. A ΔyscN mutant of the nonencapsulated C12 strain was expected to display antigens previously concealed by the capsule. C12 ΔyscN elicited negligible titers to F1 but comparable antibody levels to whole killed bacteria, as did CO92 ΔyscN. Although one dose of C12 ΔyscN was not protective, vaccination with two doses of either CO92 ΔyscN, or a combination of the ΔyscN mutants of C12 and CO92, protected optimally against lethal bubonic or pneumonic plague. Protection against encapsulated Y. pestis required inclusion of F1 in the vaccine and was associated with high anti-F1 titers.

The Yersinia pestis GTPase BipA Promotes Pathogenesis of Primary Pneumonic Plague.

Yersinia pestis is a highly virulent pathogen and the causative agent of bubonic, septicemic, and pneumonic plague. Primary pneumonic plague caused by inhalation of respiratory droplets contaminated with Y. pestis is nearly 100% lethal within 4 to 7 days without antibiotic intervention. Pneumonic plague progresses in two phases, beginning with extensive bacterial replication in the lung with minimal host responsiveness, followed by the abrupt onset of a lethal proinflammatory response. The precise mechanisms by which Y. pestis is able to colonize the lung and survive two very distinct disease phases remain largely unknown. To date, a few bacterial virulence factors, including the Ysc type 3 secretion system, are known to contribute to the pathogenesis of primary pneumonic plague. The bacterial GTPase BipA has been shown to regulate expression of virulence factors in a number of Gram-negative bacteria, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, and Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi. However, the role of BipA in Y. pestis has yet to be investigated. Here, we show that BipA is a Y. pestis virulence factor that promotes defense against early neutrophil-mediated bacterial killing in the lung. This work identifies a novel Y. pestis virulence factor and highlights the importance of early bacterial/neutrophil interactions in the lung during primary pneumonic plague.

Genghis Khan’s death (AD 1227): An unsolvable riddle or simply a pandemic disease?

The article examines Genghis Khan's death from the historico-medical perspective. Although several etiologies have been proposed over the years, most of these at a closer look appear to be later inventions by historians. A reassessment of the available evidence suggests instead bubonic plague as the most likely clinical scenario. Genghis Khan's death is also a reflection on the impact of pandemic diseases on leadership in ancient times as well as nowadays.

The Disease Narrative in Albert Camus’ The Plague

In many literary works, a character’s physical disease or illness also metaphorically references various universal characteristics of the human condition—death, religion, politics and relationships—as they are interworked amidst healthy and unhealthy bodies. In the case of Albert Camus’ The Plague, the epidemic of bubonic plague in the Algerian port city of Oran is considered an allegory for the German occupation of France from 1940 to 1944. The highly infectious disease disrupts citizens’ lives in real time, with consequences that further manifest throughout the world to varying degrees and in varying timeframes thereafter. This paper attempts to explore Camus’s metaphoric connotations of “the plague” within these social, cultural and historical narratives. This interdisciplinary study will also bring together analyses of literary and non-literary texts about the disease narrative, while also addressing literary theories related to medical science in order to better understand the allegorical definitions of illness, death, disability and exile in The Plague.

Czy Jan Žižka zmarł na zarazę morową?

Did Jan Žižka die of the pestilence? The author raises the question of the causes of the death of Jan Žižka (1360–1424), Czech national hero and one of the most able leaders of the Hussite revolution between 1419 and 1424. Žižka died suddenly, after a brief illness during the Moravian campaign in October 1424. The illness had symptoms and a course indicating bubonic plague, which from the mid XIVth century assailed the Czech lands, Moravia, and Silesia, as is confirmed by XVth-century and XVIth-century sources, including the Staré letopisy české and the chronicle of Eneasz Sylwiusz Piccolomini. In the XIXth century, this diagnosis was questioned in favour of a severe skin complaint, which produced cluster boils or carbuncles. Because no mortal remains of Žižka have survived, a genetic analysis of bone material is impossible that would establish the presence of plague-causing Yersinia pestis bacteria. Thus, the problem remains to the present in the sphere of hypotheses and discussion. This article is a contribution to the debate.

Justification for a taxonomic conservation update of the rodent genus Tamiasciurus: addressing marginalization and mis-prioritization of research efforts and conservation laissez-faire for a sustainability outlook

Taxonomy presents itself as the critical basis of any modern scientific decision-making approach in the living world, and therefore accurate classifications have to be sought. Due to ongoing species naming debates, here we would like to facilitate a discussion on the methods and validity used for taxonomic claims and their influence on conservation, ecology, and management for squirrels in the western world as a wider example. Following the established epigenetic approach, we examine the rodent genus Tamiasciurus. We include in our assessment all relevant species-interfering characteristics and present one new perspective, ecological niches. The ecological niche is essential for explaining the species’ behavior patterns and their discrepancies among the congeners, adding insights into phylogenesis. We add the usage of mapping software such as geographic information systems (ArcGIS, Open QGIS) for this genus, as well as best-available open access data and the statistical aid from R. Misclassifications in the taxonomy are known to lead to conservation failures on a continental and societal scale, in part caused by a lack of knowledge by the public and the miscommunication between scientists and the public. As one possible solution, here we suggest a reclassification for Mearns’s squirrel (Tamiasciurus mearnsi) and a description update for the entire Tamiasciurus genus to improve conservation success. Additional solutions are presented to simplify classification with reduced errors and confusion in the animal kingdom. A larger future effort of this style is sought to greatly decrease marginalization, to improve the current lack of research priority and “laissez-faire” attitudes on environmental issues for a better relationship between humans and the biotic world. In conclusion we present important topics and yet unaddressed problems, such as how the rodent’s marginalization influences the pandemic disease transmission to humans (e.g. Covid-19, rabies, and bubonic plague), appropriately assigned budgets for their conservation, and the data transparency in a continuously accelerating climate-changing world.

Plague Transmission from Corpses and Carcasses.

Knowing whether human corpses can transmit plague will inform policies for handling the bodies of those who have died of the disease. We analyzed the literature to evaluate risk for transmission of Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague, from human corpses and animal carcasses. Because we could not find direct evidence of transmission, we described a transmission pathway and assessed the potential for transmission at each step. We examined 3 potential sources of infection: body fluids of living plague patients, infected corpses and carcasses, and body fluids of infected corpses. We concluded that pneumonic plague can be transmitted by intensive handling of the corpse or carcass, presumably through the inhalation of respiratory droplets, and that bubonic plague can be transmitted by blood-to-blood contact with the body fluids of a corpse or carcass. These findings should inform precautions taken by those handling the bodies of persons or animals that died of plague.

Princess and the Plague


 
 
 Recent bioarchaeological and phylogenetic studies have identified Central Asia as an early reservoir for Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for the bubonic plague in humans and animals. Lacking documentary evidence, however, historians have heretofore been unable to find a place for South, East, and Central Asia in the premodern history of the plague. This article uses Tibetan-, Chinese-, and Khotanese-language sources to tell a history of the bubonic plague in Central Asia between the seventh and ninth centuries. From official Tibetan histories, we learn of human and animal plagues at the turn of the eighth century. From the prophetic narratives of Khotan, we learn of an unnamed Chinese princess who died in Tibet with a black pox on her chest. Finally, interpreting Tibetan and Khotanese translations of an Āyurvedic medical text in light of bioarchaeological data, we can begin to retrospectively diagnose the plagues of Central Asia. More than just the documentary history of a specific plague outbreak, these sources demonstrate the variegated responses to centuries of plague in Central Asia, including narrative description, scapegoating, ritual protection, humoral diagnosis, and pharmacological and surgical therapies. The end result is an integrated account of the bubonic plague in Central Asia based on Tibetan and Khotanese explanations of epidemics.
 
 

Are we Athens or Florence? COVID-19 in historical context

We have been here before. In 430 BCE, a plague struck Athens, killing as much as 25% of the population. In 1347 CE, the bubonic plague afflicted western Europe for...

Human Plague Case Diagnosed in Ningxia Tracked to Animal Reservoirs - Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, China, 2021.

What is already known about this topic?There were a total of 4 and 3 human plague cases that occurred in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in 2019 and 2020, respectively, with 1 and 2 deaths in 2019 and 2020 respectively, which indicated that plague still poses a significant threat to human health especially for farmers, shepherds, or residents living in native plague foci.What is added by this report?On August 14, 2021, 1 patient from the Otog Qi (County) in the Inner Mongolia sought treatment in Yinchuan City (the capital of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region), where the patient was diagnosed with bubonic plague and secondary septicemic plague. The genetic source tracking of associated Yersiniapestis strains indicated that human plague cases were infected from animal reservoirs in Inner Mongolia. What are the implications for public health practice?Major threats of plague to residents living in native plague foci are the infection by bites of bacterium-bearing fleas or direct contact with diseased or dead plague-infected animals. And the ability of early diagnostic is very critical for county-level hospital in native plague foci.

Host traits, identity, and ecological conditions predict consistent flea abundance and prevalence on free-living California ground squirrels

Understanding why some individuals are more prone to carry parasites and spread diseases than others is a key question in biology. Although epidemiologists and disease ecologists increasingly recognize that individuals of the same species can vary tremendously in their relative contributions to the emergence of diseases, very few empirical studies systematically assess consistent individual differences in parasite loads within populations over time. Two species of fleas (Oropsylla montana and Hoplopsyllus anomalous) and their hosts, California ground squirrels (Otospermophilus beecheyi), form a major complex for amplifying epizootic plague in the western United States. Understanding its biology is primarily of major ecological importance and is also relevant to public health. Here, we capitalize on a long-term data set to explain flea incidence on California ground squirrels at Briones Regional Park in Contra Costa County, USA. In a 7 year study, we detected 42,358 fleas from 2,759 live trapping events involving 803 unique squirrels from two free-living populations that differed in the amount of human disturbance in those areas. In general, fleas were most abundant and prevalent on adult males, on heavy squirrels, and at the pristine site, but flea distributions varied among years, with seasonal conditions (e.g., temperature, rainfall, humidity), temporally within summers, and between flea species. Although on-host abundances of the two flea species were positively correlated, each flea species occupied a distinctive ecological niche. The common flea (O. montana) occurred primarily on adults in cool, moist conditions in early summer whereas the rare flea (H. anomalous) was mainly on juveniles in hot, dry conditions in late summer. Beyond this, we uncovered significantly repeatable and persistent effects of host individual identity on flea loads, finding consistent individual differences among hosts in all parasite measures. Taken together, we reveal multiple determinants of parasites on free-living mammals, including the underappreciated potential for host heterogeneity – within populations – to structure the emergence of zoonotic diseases such as bubonic plague.

COVID-19: No longer status quo for the surgeon

Contagious viruses have plagued humanity since time immemorial. The Bubonic Plague (Black Death) and small pox in the 14th Century, Spanish Flu in 1918, and more recently HIV/AIDS, Ebola, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) are those ingrained in our memory banks. The latest culprit, a close relation to both SARS and MERS, however, threatens to disrupt and collapse the very best of health systems.

Public private partnerships and continuity of government service delivery in the era of COVID-19 outbreak in Sub-Saharan Africa

Public private partnerships (PPPs) remain a popular delivery mechanism by governments across the world. However, there is a dearth of literature on popularity and performance of PPPs in the COVID-19 era, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) where PPP concessions in service delivery are new and increasing. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of COVID-19 on PPP concessions and identify appropriate strategies to keep them afloat during uncertain times. Based on systematic review of literature and documents, the study noted that while pandemics such as bubonic plague; Spanish flu; HIV/AIDS; SARS; the avian bird flu and Ebola existed before, they did not plunge the whole world into large-scale socio-economic disruption and lockdowns like COVID-19 pandemic. Continued delivery of public services through PPPs by governments may be frustrated by COVID-19 unless credit guarantee schemes; renegotiating concessions; finance for equity swaps and concession extensions are adopted as requisite strategies.

A Rathole: Foucault, Freud, and the Problem of Isolation

The article discusses the problem of isolation and draws a parallel between two different approaches to it - Michel Foucault’s archeology of power and Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalysis. Foucault’s perspective is exemplified by his critique of the strategies of power as they were applied to the epidemics of leprosy and bubonic plague. For leprosy there was an undifferentiated exclusionary space, while the the plague brought about a segmented space for confinement. The passage from the one strategy to the other marks the development of the disciplinary model of power: leper colonies are transformed into prisons and psychiatric wards. Freud’s approach is examined in his treatment of the Rat Man, the patient whose analysis prompted Freud to formulate his theory of obsessional neurosis, or obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). The article emphasizes the relevance of the problem of OCD to the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. The traditional strategy of power applied to leprosy was isolation by means of exile from towns, while for the plague isolation meant shutting towns down with their inhabitants each in their own place as if imprisoned. COVID-19 brought about a new strategy of self-isolation which entails creating physical and psychological barriers together with social distancing. Obsessional neurosis is evolving from an individual pathology into a kind of collective one: epidemiology influences mentality. In conclusion, the article takes up two literary examples - Roman Mikhailov’s text “The Wrong Side of a Rat,” and Varlam Shalamov’s story “Lepers,” from the Kolyma Stories collection - in which breaking out of isolation, disease and infection are presented as alternative affective experiences.

Gregory of Tours on Sixth-Century Plague and Other Epidemics

Analyzes philologically and historically all testimony in the works of Gregory of Tours about various epidemics that struck Gaul, Iberia, and Italy in the sixth century; in particular, those of the most serious disease, “inguinal epidemic,” that is, bubonic plague (Yersinia pestis), as well as an illness that may have been smallpox (Variola major). Establishes that Gregory’s testimony, inspired by his personal and pastoral-theological concerns, is reliable and informative; delineates the motivations and sources for reporting the recurring epidemics of plague as they emerge from his writings; shows that Gregory’s information is robust but geographically constrained: of the twenty-two places and regions where he knows unambiguously about plague, only four are further than 400 km from his familial Clermont (Fig. 1). Gregory’s twenty-two mentions of plague also refer to six epidemics between c. 543–47 and c. 591–94, of which he treats four in greater detail; his silences are confirmed to be significant only rarely. Two epidemics are newly dated to springtime, and the initial outbreak is shown as likely to have reached Gaul from a western port. Contagion mirrors communications infrastructures and affected the countryside as well as towns, which populations tended to flee. Symptoms, epidemiology, and heavy mortality align with the ancient DNA proof that the pathogen was Yersinia pestis; pneumonic plague is suggested in two cases. Gregory’s historical testimony is confirmed by and integrated into the new biomolecular archaeological discoveries of early medieval plague victims in western Europe. Fig. 1. Plague outbreaks reported by Gregory of Tours, victims with robust aDNA of Y. pestis, and mass burials.