The Black Death chose its victims selectively
By Bruce Bower
The Black Death, a bacterial epidemic that wiped out more than 1 in 3 Europeans from 1347 to 1351, was not an equal-opportunity destroyer. A new report finds that the disease disproportionately took the lives of physically frail people, rather than indiscriminately killing off individuals regardless of their health.
Sharon DeWitte of the University at Albany, N.Y., and James W. Wood of Pennsylvania State University in University Park examined 490 skeletons from London’s East Smithfield cemetery, established in 1348 or 1349 solely to bury Black Death victims. The researchers looked for any of four types of bone damage or deformation that have been linked to infections or poor nutrition early in life.