Re: Medieval Fleas

From: Rodney Kelp (Rodneykelp605_at_hotmail.com)
Date: 07/31/04 

Date: Sat, 31 Jul 2004 11:05:12 -0400

I would like to know where the fleas got the plague from?
Did they give it to the rats? Did the rats give it to the fleas?
Who had it first and where did the originator get it from?

"Simon Pugh" <News@mrzsp.demonX.co.uk> wrote in message
news:15lCHnEN31CBFwa3@mrzsp.demon.co.uk...
> I am interested in the types of flea found in Europe during the period
> of the plague epidemic in Europe from the Black Death onwards. I wonder
> if flea exoskeletons from this period survive in the archaeological
> record.
>
> I suspect they might as I have read that numerous example of human fleas
> have been found. But how about other species particularly rat fleas?
>
> The reason for asking the question is that the WHO Plague Manual
> suggests that Xenopsylla cheopis, the oriental rat flea associated with
> plague, originated in Egypt and only spread from there in the 19th
> century.
>
> Any help with references would be appreciated.
> --
> Simon Pugh
>
> Remove X for email 

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