i need a little light on this question, from a science point of view?

Question

im researching one of Italys islands called Poveglia, meant to be the worlds most haunted place.(but thats not the question ) around the 1500,s the island became a dumping ground for people infected with the black plague, over 160,000 people were taken there some dead, and some dying, ..they were left there to rot into the ground..the locals say a thick layer of the island is made up of human remains, which it would be as its only a small island..the island is off bounds to pretty much everyone, including tourists...only the odd people have sneaked over there in curiousity, and ghost hunting...anyway what i want to get some light on is..would the plague still lay dorment deep in the soil still today, say if someone went there and started digging up parts of the island, could it disturb it, or would it be totally killed off by now,..remember these people were deeply infected, with no quaratine, or medical help, they were just dumped there and decomposed into the ground...

Answer 1

Bubonic plague is a bacterial infection mainly found in rats and fleas. It is spread to humans by flea bites. Most bacteria can survive in soil if it is able to produce a "biofilm" or a dense layer of bacteria. Bacteria protected by a biofilm (or a bacterial colony) is much more difficult to kill than small colonies of bacteria.

The plague bacteria, Yersinia pestis, can survive outside of a host, and so, unless there was a substantial effort to cleanse the island of the bacteria, there is still a risk that the virus could be contracted by digging in the soil.

The plague is rarely seen in modern times, and there are simple treatments for it if it is recognized and treated early in it's lifecycle. It is typically treated with simple antibiotics, and there are vaccines.

I wouldn't recommend living on this island or digging any holes there unless you have no other choice.

Answer 2

Plague is caused by a bacterium, not a virus. This particular bacterium relies upon a live host and cannot remain viable outside of that host for a long period of time, unlike the spore- forming anthrax bacterium which is scientifically known to remain viable in the soil for 80 years or more. Many "plague pits" of this historical period have been excavated by archaeologists in the UK and Europe with no ill effects.
However, plague is still endemic in areas inhabited by marmots and their relatives and cases still occur in such places which include California.
Oh. Ghosts? Bollocks!
Why didn't you put this question in a "mainstream" science category like "Biology" or "Medicine" where you might have got some more informed answers?

Answer 3

Actaully viruses could theoretically pose some rick outside bodies so the other answer isn't telling the whole story.

Luckily for all, the black plague wasn't a virus. It was a bacterial infection based on Yersinia pestis that was carried by fleas, in turn transported around on ships - which is why it was international.

No bacteria could live in the soil. As cell based life forms they wouldn't be able to go in to stasis. Admittedly some tiny creatures could, called 'tardygrades' but that's getting kind of technical.

They'd be no danger at all and I might add, little chance of additional haunting as ghosts don't exist.

Ghosts are basically said to be souls outside a human body, right? Well souls were only invented to explain why human beings had thought and emotion. Now we can explain them with neurology it seems a little silly to cling to the magical animating essense theory of life.

Answer 4

I ' ve just remember a novel about a cursed island which actually was the island of " erinyes " the greek ancient women spirits of justice.... no one get close to the island and only a few animals lived there..just like the poveglia...
so I think that medically a doctor or a microviologist could give the right answer...
for all the others..
a saint definitely could clean the place and see the light to all these desperate souls

Answer 5

Nope. Viruses, hardy though they may seem, can only survive with hosts. If nobody living has been on the island recently, then no, the plague will not come back.

In any case, the Bubuonic Plauge was... well, it might have been carried by rats, but then again it might have been purely viral among humans. The answer is still out.

However. No virus can survive on nothing at all for many years.

Answer 6

I dont know if the plague can survive any period of time without a host, but there are other viruses and infections that "CAN" lay dormant for years before becoming active again. Viruses have a way of mutating very quickly to overcome adversity such as changing weather conditions and medications. Germs can be frozen for thousands of years and remain viable.

Answer 7

The Black Plague was transmitted by flea bites.I doubt there's any danger from a centuries old virus,but.I'm sure there are still rats and other furry animals on the island.Insect bites are always a pain.So why not bring plenty of OFF just in case.

Answer 8

333...that was a real intelligent question...and I have no idea what the answer is.(as I'm sure you can tell, I'm not a scientist.) I wonder if this would hold true for ecoli and salmonella...I wonder if you keep something (like Tortino's pizzas that had ecoli) long enough...I wonder if the ecoli dies or gets stronger. (like if you put it in the freezer for a year) I ate one of those pizzas that was on recall...say a prayer for me and my grandsons. We have to wait a few more days to see if we got infected.( BTW..we don't keep anything for a year)

Answer 9

Why were so many scientists worried about getting some virus from the Mars rocks? No fleas on Mars, I would think.



When People are infected, they infect others very rapidly.
So you see it is not fleas but people that spread it. The rodents go dormant in the winter and allow the fleas to also go dormant with them, thus keeping it going every spring.

Fleas help in spreading it, but it began with people and came to Europe when a ship from China docked in Italy.

Answer 10

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