The other night

because it seemed appropriate, I downloaded Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year on Kindle, first published in 1722 and covering the great bubonic plague of 1665.

In science news...

Stunning 3D animation reveals how the Sahara fertilises the rainforests of the AMAZON with 182 million tones of dust

Buddha statue reveals remains of mummified monk inside

Rats May Be Exonerated in European Plague, Say Scientists With a Gerbil Theory

More Siberian Craters Prompt Call for Urgent Investigation

'Early peanut intake could prevent allergy'

Blind man sees wife for the first time in a decade - here's how

Fascinating

Black Death genetic code 'built'

The genetic code of the germ that caused the Black Death has been reconstructed by scientists for the first time.

The researchers extracted DNA fragments of the ancient bacterium from the teeth of medieval corpses found in London.

They say the pathogen is the ancestor of all modern plagues.

The research, published in the journal Nature, suggests the 14th Century outbreak was also the first plague pandemic in history.

It uses very little actual sample material, so I don't know if it's completely accurate, but the technique could be useful in studying other endemics as well. They found that the Black Death of the 14th century was, indeed caused by a strain of Yersinia pestis that is an ancestor of plague strains today. However, it was not the same pathogen from previous plagues such as the Justinian plague of the 6th century.

An interesting claim that made the news a few days ago

Roman Empire 'raised HIV threat'

French scientists argue that people who lack a particular gene (CCR5-Delta32) seem to be more vulnerable to HIV, and that this is found particularly among those areas that were part of the Roman Empire. It's not because of interbreeding, but rather the result of a disease spread to the areas affected by the Romans. Others argue that other diseases were responsible for the vulnerability, such as bubonic plague.