Book Excerpt: How the plague affected colonial Bombay in 1896

‘The Moral Contagion’ by Julia Hauser and Sarnath Banerjee describes in vivid detail how the pestilence shook up the port city

Plague bacteria may be hiding in common soil or water microbes, waiting to emerge

Where do plague bacteria go between outbreaks? New research demonstrates that they can survive and replicate inside amoebae that are widely …

Two cases of pneumonic plague reported in northern China

Chinese officials downplay, say both patients are being treated as rules mandate

Bubonic plague of infamous 'Black Death' era strikes Oregon resident. Is there a climate change link?

When climate subsequently becomes unfavorable, it facilitates collapse of plague-infected rodent populations, forcing their fleas to find …

Looking for a non-Western lens to the Black Death? Try this translation of a work written in Mamluk Egypt

‘Merits of the Plague’ was written 600 years ago by Ibn Hajar al-Asqalani, a medieval polymath

How 3 prior pandemics triggered massive societal shifts

Pandemics can alter a society’s fundamental worldview, upend core economic structures and sway power struggles among nations

After bats, do not make marmots into villains: Expert

The rodents have come into focus ever since reports surfaced of a bubonic plague outbreak in Mongolia, China and the Russian Far East

How pandemics fuel the rise of mega-corporations

The Black Death and COVID-19 seem to have caused concentration and centralisation of business and state power. The question is whether these …

Chinese city sealed after man dies of plague

Police have cordoned off the entire town of Yumen in the north-western Chinese province of Gansu and restricted the movement of the residents

COVID-19: Lessons from past epidemics, natural disasters

India has a robust legal framework for disaster management, yet there are gaps in response and preparedness to fight COVID-19 outbreak

Global warning: Upsurge of plague in Congo

World human plague cases lowest in 30 years, but WHO warns it remains a particularly “formidable epidemic disease”  

Global Eco Watch: 1.2 million Indians died of snake bites in last 20 years

Down To Earth brings you the top happenings in the world of global ecology

Rats not responsible for ‘Black Death’ in medieval Europe: study

Climate change and gerbils, another rodent species spread the deadly disease, it says