Animal agriculture continues to this day to be one of the largest breeders of disease (see practically any E. Coli or salmonella recall in leafey greens — almost always due to animal runoff).
The old world lucked out in having a good number of dumb docile animals to domesticate, so it went hardcore on animal agriculture. As such they got exposed to a lot of disease.
The new world, not so much. We got some big game, but most of it was not something easy to domesticate. Either too aggressive, too hard to contain, or both. So they didn’t get the animal agriculture or the generations of fighting various disease that go along with it.
Specifically the black plague, no. But you also don’t get cities to the scale of European ones without agriculture. Especially back then. Globalism and processed foods have made a vegetarian/vegan diet sustainable year round for practically anyone. That was also very difficult in a lot of places for a lot of history.
Animal agriculture continues to this day to be one of the largest breeders of disease (see practically any E. Coli or salmonella recall in leafey greens — almost always due to animal runoff).
The old world lucked out in having a good number of dumb docile animals to domesticate, so it went hardcore on animal agriculture. As such they got exposed to a lot of disease.
The new world, not so much. We got some big game, but most of it was not something easy to domesticate. Either too aggressive, too hard to contain, or both. So they didn’t get the animal agriculture or the generations of fighting various disease that go along with it.
Do you think farming animals was a significant contributor to the black plague?
It’s my understanding it was spread primarily by rats, who thrived in the filthy conditions within cities and shipping vessels.
Specifically the black plague, no. But you also don’t get cities to the scale of European ones without agriculture. Especially back then. Globalism and processed foods have made a vegetarian/vegan diet sustainable year round for practically anyone. That was also very difficult in a lot of places for a lot of history.
Yes, times are changing.