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Article: Medieval black death not bubonic plague, researchers propose.
- Article from:
- TB & Outbreaks Week
- Article date:
- June 25, 2002
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2002 JUN 25 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The Black Death of the 1300s was probably not the modern disease known as bubonic plague, according to a team of anthropologists studying these 14th century epidemics.
"Although on the surface, seem to have been similar, we are not convinced that the epidemic in the 14th century and the present day bubonic plague are the same," said Dr. James Wood, professor of anthropology and demography at Penn State. "Old descriptions of disease symptoms are usually too nonspecific to be a reliable basis for diagnosis."
The researchers note that it was the symptom of lymphatic swelling that led 19th century bacteriologists ...