| Biological warfare at the 1346 siege of Caffa. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 12194776 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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On the basis of a 14th-century account by the Genoese Gabriele de' Mussi, the Black Death is widely believed to have reached Europe from the Crimea as the result of a biological warfare attack. This is not only of great historical interest but also relevant to current efforts to evaluate the threat of military or terrorist use of biological weapons. Based on published translations of the de' Mussi manuscript, other 14th-century accounts of the Black Death, and secondary scholarly literature, I conclude that the claim that biological warfare was used at Caffa is plausible and provides the best explanation of the entry of plague into the city. This theory is consistent with the technology of the times and with contemporary notions of disease causation; however, the entry of plague into Europe from the Crimea likely occurred independent of this event. |
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Authors:
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Mark Wheelis |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Historical Article; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Emerging infectious diseases Volume: 8 ISSN: 1080-6040 ISO Abbreviation: Emerging Infect. Dis. Publication Date: 2002 Sep |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2002-08-26 Completed Date: 2002-11-25 Revised Date: 2013-03-11 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9508155 Medline TA: Emerg Infect Dis Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 971-5 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Division of Biological Sciences, Section of Microbiology, University of California, Davis, California 95616-8664, USA. mlwheelis@ucdavis.edu |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animals Biological Warfare / history* Disease Outbreaks / history* Europe / epidemiology History, Medieval Humans Literature, Medieval / history Middle East / epidemiology Plague / epidemiology, history*, transmission |
| Comments/Corrections | |
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