Althouse: Bubonic plague death.

August 27, 2013

Bubonic plague death.

From eating infected marmot.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...: they must have thought it was fresh Marmite.; 8/27/13, 10:54 AM
Fritz said...: Bubonic plague is endemic in a variety of rodents in the west, and occasionally a human contracts it by contact with one. I could see how it might become a problem in a less developed country, though.; 8/27/13, 10:58 AM
James Pawlak said...: The "Yasa" (Legal code of the Mongols) prescribed extreme care in the preparation of such animals for cooking.
The Plague is endemic among like ground-dwelling animals in the USA's South-West and in Mexico. The same is sometimes true of squirrels found in the West of the USA (eg. Denver and Los Angeles).; 8/27/13, 11:03 AM
Wince said...: Oh heavens, Muffy, does that mean can we get it from wearing Marmot?; 8/27/13, 11:06 AM
edutcher said...: Every now and again, a case of plague pops up in this country, usually brought in from a ship that had been in Asia. It's never really been eradicated over there and you wonder how many times it can mutate before it becomes something virulent again.

We're not as safe here as we think we are.; 8/27/13, 11:39 AM
Bob Ellison said...: The trick to making a really nice marmot, woodchuck, and groundhog stew is cooking it low and slow, with plenty of paprika. But cook it long enough-- don't want any of that plague to get through.; 8/27/13, 11:44 AM
Peter said...: Umm, plague is still virulent, it's just that antibiotics are effective against it.

The world will be a different place when the Age of Antibiotics draws to a close (as eventually it must).; 8/27/13, 12:24 PM
Michael K said...: Plague occurs every year in California. The ground squirrels in the Sierra carry the fleas that carry plague. Cooking should sterilize the meat so the victims must have gotten the disease from the fleas while handling the animal.

One characteristic that allows us to recognize plague in history (such as The Plague of Justinian is the fact that caregivers are typically not infected. The exception is Pneumonic Plague, the lung variant which killed 24 doctors and nurses in Los Angeles in 1924.; 8/27/13, 3:15 PM
Rusty said...: Well. THAT'S off the menu for the reception.; 8/27/13, 4:50 PM
Anonymous said...: God damn it. I was planning to serve marmot for a Labor Day cookout.

Peter; 8/27/13, 5:02 PM
Fritz said...: " ironrailsironweights said...

God damn it. I was planning to serve marmot for a Labor Day cookout."

Tastes just like nutria.; 8/27/13, 7:41 PM
Hagar said...: I believe we average a couple of deaths a year from plague in New Mexico. Some years none, some years half a dozen.

Some years ago, the media was all agog that military personnel from New Mexico had to be vaccinated against plague before being deployed to the Middle East.; 8/27/13, 8:36 PM
Hagar said...: Oh, and that is to protect the Middle Easterners from the New Mexicans - not us from them.; 8/27/13, 8:56 PM