I get it. We would all like to have more illustrations of the plague. It is hard to fathom how a horrific event like the Black Death has left so few bonafide illustrations. Misidentified illustrations do not solve the problem; they compound the confusion. Three images commonly used to illustrate the Black Death have been proven misidentifications;... Continue Reading →
Paleomicrobiology and isotopic analysis has the ability to completely change what we know of past infectious diseases. A study published this month on a fifth century Anglo-Saxon skeleton is one of the most complete I have read. Lesions on skeletons found at Great Chesterfield in Essex, England, suggested possible leprosy. To confirm this diagnosis, they... Continue Reading →
Leprosy is an ancient disease. References to leprosy and the social stigma attached to it go back to 600 BC from India and in the Old Testament. However, like the plague, it was not until relatively late (1873) that the term leprosy became attached to a particular microbe, Mycobacterium leprae. Although some medieval descriptions suggest... Continue Reading →
