[Ansteorra] Question about researching historic pathogens

[Mike Andrews]

On Sun, Nov 27, 2011 at 11:21:45AM -0600, Elyssa Hoffman wrote:
> I'm working on a couple of interesting cases this weekend that I might
> seek permission to write educational papers on. ( CE or CEU's for
> those in the medical field.) I posted awhile back about Yersinia
> pestis and there was enough interest for several posts to occur. The
> question I have today is: Is there enough interest and information in
> Medievil medicine to do a reseach project on other pathogens that
> "plagued" the time period. Or has this already been done to death? I
> figured if I can write I paper on the clock and get paid for it I
> could continue it for SCA fun.
> Elyssa de Orozco
> aka Mad Labr

I think it is a magnificent idea! Even if Y. pestis and its changes in
virulence (and, of course, its role in various plagues) have been done to
death -- which I think is not the case -- I haven't seen any papers on the
great plagues in the SCA context.

Have you ever thought about "leprosy", and what various disease(s) it
might have been? I somehow suspect that it wasn't just Hansen's Disease
(from Mycobacterium leprae/lepromatosis). The Talmud, e.g., appears to
argue that tzaraath, translated to Greek as "leprae", and thence to the
English "leprosy", referred generally to any disease that produces sores
and eruptions on the skin.

I'd like to forward your post, with comments, to the Ansteorra-Laurels and
SCA-Laurels lists.

-- 
Mike Andrews        /   Michael Fenwick    Barony of Namron, Ansteorra
mikea at mikea.ath.cx  /   Amateur Extra radio operator W5EGO
Tired old music Laurel; Chirurgeon; SCAdian since AS XI
Listowner, SCA-Laurels