plague news stories on Newser

Wimpy Cousin of Black Death Still Around

Kevin Spak — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 14:45:03 CDT

The version of the bubonic plague kicking around today is indeed related to the one that wiped out a third of Europe’s population in the Middle Ages, researchers have confirmed, after DNA testing on 109 ancient skeletons buried in a mass victims' grave in London revealed a shared gene sequence....

Rabid Bats Plague Los Angeles

Tim Karan — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 12:14:35 CDT

It's probably only a matter of time before someone writes a screenplay about this: Rabid bats have been invading Los Angeles in increasing numbers this summer. The city public health department says 12 have already been found, up from the eight to 10 typically discovered over a full year, reports...

Airport Scare: Not a Bomb (or the Plague)

John Johnson — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:42:11 CDT

Great news: The guy carrying a suspected pipe bomb in his luggage at Miami airport wasn't carrying a pipe bomb after all. Not-so-great news: He's been busted previously for shady business regarding the transportation of plague bacteria. This, too, however, isn't as sinister as it might appear: The traveler is...

Peru Hit by Bubonic Plague

Rob Quinn — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 02:00:00 CDT

The disease that decimated much of Europe in the Middle Ages is alive and well in Peru, where health officials say an outbreak in the north has killed a 14-year-old boy and infected at least 30 other people. Twenty-five of the cases are bubonic plague, which is spread by fleas,...

Plague Fears Close California Campground

M. Morris — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 13:40:00 CDT

A campground northeast of Los Angeles will be closed until at least next week after a squirrel tested positive for plague, the LA Times reports. Officials are dusting squirrel burrows in the surrounding national forest in an attempt to kill fleas, which can transmit the disease to humans."It is...

4 Dystopias Health Reform Will Prevent

Nick McMaster — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 22:50:00 CDT

Perhaps the best way to explore how health-care reform will affect our lives is to consider the fictional dystopias the Obamacare society won't have to endure. Or, have io9 do it for you: A mutant plague. A rich country in which 30 million people have no access to preventative care...

Plague Bacteria Linked to Death of Scientist

Jason Farago — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:26:09 CDT

A 60-year-old researcher at the University of Chicago died earlier this month from an infection that may have been set off by the bacteria that causes the plague. Malcolm Casadaban was working with a weakened strain of the bacteria that is normally harmless, and the CDC has been called in...

China Isolates Town After 2 Die of Plague

Jason Farago — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:15:33 CDT

China has quarantined a remote town of 10,000 after two people died of pneumonic plague, one of the world's deadliest diseases. The Times of London reports that the first victim died after burying his dog, and 11 people at the funeral then fell ill, one fatally. Pneumonic plague is...

'Vampire' Unearthed in Venice

Rob Quinn — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 02:04:40 CDT

Italian archeologists have discovered evidence of an ancient vampire-slaying ritual in a 16th-century plague pit near Venice, the AP reports. A female skeleton was unearthed with a brick wedged between her jaws, in what experts believe was an attempt by superstitious gravediggers to stop the corpse from eating through its...