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From: (Michael)
Subject: Re: A question about The Plague
Date: 02 Nov 2002 21:45:58 GMT
References: <+I33WNA57Dx9EwS1@mowfam.freeserve.co.uk>


>>>As others have said, no. I watched a show on PBS about the plague last
>night
>>>(not the same show you were watching). This one was part of the Secrets of
>>>the Dead series. It was about a village in England that was quarantined for
>>>1 year around 1666. A surprisingly high percentage of the villagers
>>>recovered from the plague or never got sick despite being constantly
>exposed
>>>to it. They explained that the plague bacteria works like the HIV virus by
>>>infiltrating - oh, heck, I've forgotten already - white blood cells, T1
>>>cells - anyway, some part of the immune system via receptors.
>
>Factoid:
>Maybe the village was Eyam in Derbyshire. Legend has it they were
>infected by means of roll of cloth delivered to village which was
>contaminated.
>The vicar, Mompesson, organised the quarantine and on the edge of the
>village are stones with scoops in the top. Known as Mompesson's Wells,
>they were filled with vinegar and the villager left coins in them for
>payment for food and goods which outsiders left by them.
>

The village that was featured on "Secrets of the Dead" was indeed Eyam.
Apparently, 14 percent of the population of Eyam still possess the mutated gene
(Delta 32).

Michael

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