Podcast #299: Black Death, Lice, Math, and Pottery
Emergency Medical Minute · medicalminute
February 6, 20183m 55s
Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (traffic.libsyn.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.
Show Notes
Author: Chris Holmes, M.D.
Educational Pearls
- It's estimated that about 25 million people died during the Black Plaque. Researchers have confirmed this number by assessing how much old, broken pottery was buried in front of homes and churches from that time period.
- Traditional thinking has been that the Black Plague was spread primarily by flea bites. However, using mathematical modeling, researchers have theorized that person-to-person spread was more common.
References: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2016/05/24/broken-pottery-reveals-the-sheer-devastation-caused-by-the-black-death/