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I see #BlackDeath is trending because of a case of #bubonicplague in China, so, a small PSA thread:
Bubonic plague never really went away. It's treatable w/ antibiotics. Doesn't spread human-to-human unless it's pneumonic plague. 1/
Bubonic plague never really went away. It's treatable w/ antibiotics. Doesn't spread human-to-human unless it's pneumonic plague. 1/
Caused by Y. pestis bacteria, plague is spread by rodents (fleas really, but they don't hang out on their own usually) and is endemic/more common to certain areas of the world - e.g. Central Asia (
), Mongolia, and yes, China. 2/
), Mongolia, and yes, China. 2/
According to WHO, plague is currently most prevalent in Africa, but some cases are reported annually in the United States, too. 3/
If you want to geek out a bit: USSR created a whole network of institutes and stations to watch for & control outbreaks of zoonotic diseases, primarily plague. @JamesMartinCNS has a great collection of materials here: https://www.nonproliferation.org/the-soviet-anti-plague-system/ 4/
And yes, that system had links with the Soviet bioweapons program, too. Check out the @JamesMartinCNS collection on that, esp. Ray Zilinskas' report: http://www.nonproliferation.org/wp-content/uploads/cns-archive/antiplague/zilinskas.pdf 5/
This thread is dedicated to Dr Ray Zilinskas, whom I really miss in these pandemic times. /end/
