Is the 21st Century Plague a Remnant of the Black Death Plague of the 14th Century?

A possible new plague named "the 21st century plague" has been discovered by scientists, which jumps from rats to humans. It was first discovered in an American woman with an enlarged spleen who had recently travelled to Peru. Fears are growing that the increasing number of rats in Europe that most commonly found all over the continent are carrying a new strain of bacteria.

This strain is considered to cause serious illness in humans from heart disease to infection of the spleen and nervous system. According to Taiwanese researchers, this new strain of bacteria called Bartonella rochalimae is spread between rats by fleas.

Professor Chao-Chin Chang from the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan said, “This even raised concerns that it could be a newly emerged zoonotic pathogen. Therefore we decided to investigate further to understand if living rodents living close to humans could carry this bacteria.”

Researchers took 58 from samples from rats and mice. Five out of six of the rodents carrying Bartonella strains were brown rats. The rats were found to carry several pathogenic species of Bartonella such as B. elizabethae (causes inflammation of the heart), B. grahamii (causes inflammation of the retina and optic nerve of the eye), B. tribocorum (carried by black rats) and the new deadly B. rochalimae.

According to Professor Chang, the DNA analysis of the strain sample taken from the infected woman is closely related to the B. rochalimae. To him, the results raise the concern about a possible 21st century plague.

One of the deadliest pandemics ever known to mankind includes the Black Death that was spread in the 14th century by rodents, and killed an estimated 75 million people worldwide. The Black Death or Bubonic Plague was caused by a bacterium named, Yersinia pestis.

Will this 21st century plague replicate the horrific events followed by the Black Death Plague in the 14th century? That my friends, is the looming question yet to be answered!