Bubonic plague was a serial visitor in European Middle Ages
Outbreaks erupted in years following balmy temperatures in distant Asia, suggesting a possible link
Black Death may have been a repeat guest in medieval Europe, not a resident. Outbreaks of the plague that killed millions of people were triggered by spurts of warm weather a continent away, researchers suggest online February 23 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Researchers poring through records of plague outbreaks and climate fluctuations saw that rashes of the disease in Europe followed periods of warm weather in Central Asia. Instead of being imported to Europe once from Asia and sticking around, the researchers propose that the plague was introduced many times between the 14th and 19th centuries.