3 ms·

They were primarily responsible for the spread of the Black Death/Great Plague, one of the worst pandemics in human history, so yes. And I'd like to point out t

They were primarily responsible for the spread of the Black Death/Great Plague, one of the worst pandemics in human history, so yes. And I'd like to point out that the plague still exists[1]. Now imagine what could happen if we just gave rats free rein... I'm all for animal rights and sympathy, but harmful pests need to be suppressed or eradicated in the areas where they can do harm, whether that's rats, mosquitoes, or locusts. [1] https://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps/index.html https://www.cdc.gov/plague/maps/index.html

forgotmypw 7y ago
Actually, rats' involvement in the spread of the Black Plague is under question. https://www.history.com/news/rats-didnt-spread-the-black-death-it-was-humans https://www.history.com/news/rats-didnt-spread-the-black-dea... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-black-death-humans-lice-health-science/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-blac... https://www.sciencealert.com/black-death-plague-spread-humans-lice-not-rats https://www.sciencealert.com/black-death-plague-spread-human... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/01/16/the-classic-explanation-for-the-black-death-plague-is-wrong-scientists-say/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2...
nkurz 7y ago
> They were primarily responsible for the spread of the Black Death/Great Plague While rats can and do spread plague, you might be interested in the widely-covered paper that came out last year concluding that rats probably did not cause the Black Death, and that it was instead spread by fleas and lice on travelling humans: Popular: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-black-death-humans-lice-health-science/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-blac... Scientific: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/09/1715640115 https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/09/1715640115

forgotmypw 7y ago

Actually, rats' involvement in the spread of the Black Plague is under question. https://www.history.com/news/rats-didnt-spread-the-black-death-it-was-humans https://www.history.com/news/rats-didnt-spread-the-black-dea... https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-black-death-humans-lice-health-science/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-blac... https://www.sciencealert.com/black-death-plague-spread-humans-lice-not-rats https://www.sciencealert.com/black-death-plague-spread-human... https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2018/01/16/the-classic-explanation-for-the-black-death-plague-is-wrong-scientists-say/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2...

nkurz 7y ago

> They were primarily responsible for the spread of the Black Death/Great Plague While rats can and do spread plague, you might be interested in the widely-covered paper that came out last year concluding that rats probably did not cause the Black Death, and that it was instead spread by fleas and lice on travelling humans: Popular: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-black-death-humans-lice-health-science/ https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/01/rats-plague-blac... Scientific: https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/09/1715640115 https://www.pnas.org/content/early/2018/01/09/1715640115