Bubonic plague-carrying fleas found on New York City rats

A study published this week looked into the parasites found on New York’s rats

Payton Guion Tuesday 03 March 2015

 Spend any length of time in New York City and a rat will show its whiskery face or worm-like tail. It could be on the subway tracks or nibbling through the garbage on the side of the street. It could also be carrying the bubonic plague.  Scientists studying rats in New York found the flea that carries the plague - the Oriental rat flea - hosting on some of the city’s rat population, according to the study published Monday in the Journal of Medical Entomology.  Bubonic plague is infamous as one of the most devastating pandemics in world history, known as the Black Death. During the 14th Century, the plague killed between 25 million and 50 million people in Europe.

Before panic ensues, it must be noted that researchers found no trace of the plague or typhus – another disease carried by the Oriental rat flea – in any of the fleas they sampled. Check out the full report here…..While this study did not turn up any sign of bubonic plague in the fleas living on New York’s rats, bubonic plague has been found in the city. A study published earlier this year found the bacteria that causes the plague at an Uptown subway station. Read more about that study here......To Read More....

 

My Take - There are four things we need to be aware of.

First, the plague pathogen can be found in many places, as well as on arthropods such as cockroaches. I remember reading twenty five years ago where one cockroach in a hospital in Hong Kong was found to have a plague pathogen on its body, along with numerous other pathogens, many of them associated with feces. No plague epidemic occurred, nor was there even a small outbreak, so let's not be hyperbolic about this.

Secondly, why do these epidemics occur? I don’t know and it’s my belief no one really knows until after they occur, and that’s as a result of an after the fact investigation. Will there be another insect borne epidemic in the future? I can answer that! Yes, it’s inevitable!

But we should do everything we can to prevent insect borne epidemics that can only be controlled and/or prevented with the use of pesticides. When we abandon the tools that gave society healthy pest free environments we abandon sanity.

Third, when we adopt the positions promoted by the green movement and their acolytes in the media and government we embrace insanity and misanthropy.

Fourth, when we embrace green initiatives that are clearly dystopic in hopes of greater profits - it's contemptable!