The Bubonic Plague is Alive and Well

When we think of the plague, we imagine ages gone by, the middle ages in particular, safely contained inside the texts of detailed accounts in history books. Most of us don’t associate the plague with current times, but the truth is 10 to 20 people in the United States contract plague each year. In fact, infected mice  from a lab in New Jersey escaped in 2005 and have never been found.

In the news recently, we are warned of an increased risk of ancient diseases thawing back into existence; the Bubonic plague being one. An example is a 30,000 year old virus that has been brought back to life from its Siberian permafrost tomb. Scientist believe  that we could be vulnerable to more of these frozen enemies as climate change thaws out our planet.