What is this, 1350 A.D.?

While the Bubonic Plague hit it’s stride in the late 14th century, this is not the first time we have covered it here at the FFP.  Remember back in September of last year we talked about a girl in Colorado who contracted this rare disease, and was successfully diagnosed and treated.  Unfortunately this is not the case in Madagascar.  There, the Bubonic plague has found new life.

Here is what it looks like under a microscope for those that are curious.  NOT ACTUAL SIZE:

bubonic plaguebubonic plague

bubonic plague

 

Overcrowding and a large rat population are contributing factors to it’s epidemic-like spread.  Remember that the disease is spread by fleas on rats.

fleaRemember these little bastards are hard to kill, and hard to see.  Obviously this picture is not to scale.   We are not that far away from an epidemic of antique diseases here in the U.S.  Just look at the large number of Measles outbreaks in the U.S. this year.