Oriental Rat Fleas
Many people think that the bubonic plague was carried by rats, but this wasn’t, in fact, true: it was the insects that the rat carried that caused it. Oriental rat fleas still carry the plague-causing bacteria, and it’s them that cause rat-to-rat infection and rat-to-human infection. Symptoms can range from mild – headaches and cough – to seizures and internal bleeding.
Bubonic plague is, historically, one of the world’s deadliest diseases, although we do now have antibiotics to fight it. This means that if you are unlucky enough to be one of the rare people who become infected, you have a good chance of survival. Have we mentioned how important it was that you get proper health insurance? Please don’t die from a flea bite.
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