A new study suggests black rats aren't the main culprit that spread bubonic plague in numerous outbreaks across medieval Europe.

Scientists believe repeated epidemics of the Black Death that wrought havoc in Europe in the mid-14th century can be traced to gerbils indigenous to Asia. This means history could be rewritten as rats aren't to blame, said Nils Christian Stenseth from the University of Oslo.

Like Us on Facebook

The Black Death originally came from Asia and arrived in Europe in 1347. It was the deadliest bubonic plague outbreak and led to the most devastating pandemic in human history. During the course of 400 years, repeated plague epidemics claimed millions of lives.

It was long believed black rats were the carriers of the plague. The plague bacteria were carried by fleas transferring from different infected rodent hosts then passing it on to humans.

Stenseth and his team compared tree ring records with 7,711 major plague outbreaks from history to confirm if conditions affected the strength of any rat related outbreak. He says warmer summers and not too much rain are favorable for an outbreak.

Looking at a vast array of climactic indices, however, showed no link between the plague and the weather.

The team believes that giant gerbils from Asia were responsible for the plague transmission since specific Asian weather conditions may have caused gerbil populations to thrive, leading to the grave epidemics in Europe.

Gerbils and fleas from Central Asia produce bacteria and first manifested in harbor cities across Europe before spreading across the continent, says Stenseth. The weather was favrable for a rise in gerbil populations.

The Black Plague made its way to Europe from the East and it was at its peak along the Silk Road, Stenseth adds.

The team will now analyze plague DNA from the bacteria taken from ancient skeletons across Europe. If the genetic samples show a large number of variation, this would mean the team's theory is indeed correct.

This study about the rodent origin of the Bubonic Plague was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

TagsHistory's Deadliest Outbreak: Black Death Caused by Gerbils Not Rats, bubonic plague, black death, plague, epidemics, medieval europe plague, worst epidemic in history, rats gerbils black death europe