A study of global plague transmission during the Third Pandemic period since 1772 finds several factors associated with accelerated spread of plague; in particular, areas with low population density transmitted plague faster than high-density areas, temperature inhibited spread around 20° C, and precipitation accelerated spread, suggesting that future changes in climate may alter the dynamics of plague transmission.
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Article #19-01366: "Historical and genomic data reveal the influencing factors on global transmission velocity of plague during the Third Pandemic," by Lei Xu et al.
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Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences