'Bacteria that caused the Black Death are still a threat'

THE plague, the rodent-borne infection that killed half the population of Europe during the 14th century’s Black Death, still afflicts thousands of people every year.

Bacteria similar to that which has caused three plague pandemics over the last 1,500 years still lurk in rat populations.

New research into the pathogen (disease-causing agent) responsible for the first, Justinian, plague pandemic, in 541AD, has found that it was caused by a strain of the pathogen responsible for the Black Death. A new strain of plague could emerge again. The disease is transmitted through the bites of infected fleas that live on rodents, often rats.