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the claim

The Black Death spread via fleas on rats.

the verdict
CONTESTED PARTIAL
Recorded sources
4 sources for · 5 against

Counts group repeated records of the same source within each side. They do not measure evidence strength or source independence.

Is it true that the Black Death spread via fleas on rats?

Partly. Reference and peer-reviewed sources disagree on whether the Black Death spread via fleas on rats: a medical encyclopedia and some reviews still list rat fleas as the vector, while modeling studies and archaeological work argue human fleas or lice better explain the spread.

Verdict: CONTESTED PARTIAL · 4 sources for, 5 against · Last checked

Evidence for · 4
Theories of the Black Death
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Theories of the Black Death. (n.d.). en.wikipedia.org. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theories_of_the_Black_Death

Evidence against · 5
Return of the Black Death
2004
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Scott, S. & Duncan, C. J. (2004). Return of the Black Death. play.google.com. https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=atLzRaLP8w4C&source=gbs_api

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More for · 3
How was the black death spread?
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How was the black death spread?. (n.d.). history.stackexchange.com. https://history.stackexchange.com/questions/54380

dokumen.pub the-american-medical-association-encyclopedia-of-medicine-0394565282-9780394565286 202607
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dokumen.pub the-american-medical-association-encyclopedia-of-medicine-0394565282-9780394565286 202607. (n.d.). archive.org. https://archive.org/details/dokumen.pub_the-american-medical-association-encyclopedia-of-medicine-0394565282-9780394565286_202607

Natural and socio-cultural factors of epidemics (plague, smallpox): The example of the Adyghe population of the Northwest Caucasus
2024
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Natural and socio-cultural factors of epidemics (plague, smallpox): The example of the Adyghe population of the Northwest Caucasus. (2024). doi.org. https://doi.org/10.25207/1608-6228-2024-31-5-112-123

More against · 4
[The black death in Norway].
1990
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[The black death in Norway].. (1990). pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2197762

Rats Didn’t Spread the Black Death—It Was Humans | HISTORY
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Rats Didn’t Spread the Black Death—It Was Humans | HISTORY. (n.d.). history.com. https://www.history.com/articles/rats-didnt-spread-the-black-death-it-was-humans

Yersinia pestis can infect the Pawlowsky glands of human body lice and be transmitted by louse bite
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Yersinia pestis can infect the Pawlowsky glands of human body lice and be transmitted by louse bite. (n.d.). doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3002625

Rats cannot have been intermediate hosts for Yersinia pestis during medieval plague epidemics in Northern Europe
2013
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Rats cannot have been intermediate hosts for Yersinia pestis during medieval plague epidemics in Northern Europe. (2013). doi.org. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jas.2012.12.007

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held for human review17 Oct 2026
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