title: Paleoclimate and bubonic plague: a forewarning of future risk?
abstract: Pandemics of bubonic plague have occurred in Eurasia since the sixth century AD. Climatic variations in Central Asia affect the population size and activity of the plague bacterium's reservoir rodent species, influencing the probability of human infection. Using innovative time-series analysis of surrogate climate records spanning 1,500 years, a study in BMC Biology concludes that climatic fluctuations may have influenced these pandemics. This has potential implications for health risks from future climate change.
authors.affiliation: National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Building 62, Mills Road, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. tony.mcmichael@anu.edu.au.
authors.forename: Anthony J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: McMichael
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002980:Climate; D004197:Disease Reservoirs / Q000382:microbiology*; D005849:Gerbillinae / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D010930:Plague / Q000662:veterinary*; D012376:Rodent Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history* / Q000382:microbiology*; D015010:Yersinia pestis