Gerbils may have been responsible for Black Death, Study

Scientists believe that giant gerbils were to blame for the Black Death that caused terror in Europe in the 14th century.

Black rats may not have been to blame after all, the study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests.

The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in history, and may have killed up to 200 million people.

Researchers previously believed that fleas on infected rats were to blame for the outbreak – but now suggest that the infection may have come from gerbil plagues in the Far East, and then carried to Europe along the Silk Road trade route.

Prof Nils Christian Stenseth, of the University of Oslo, said: ‘If we’re right, we’ll have to rewrite that part of history.

The researchers analysed tree rings from the period and concluded that the weather patterns didn’t ‘match’ the idea of rat populations carrying the disease.

‘We show that wherever there were good conditions for gerbils and fleas in central Asia, some years later the bacteria shows up in harbour cities in Europe and then spreads across the continent,’ Stenseth said.

‘We originally thought it was due to rats and climatic changes in Europe, but now we know it goes back to Central Asia.’

Agencies/Canadajournal