Infectious disease trivia:Cats are the nemesis of the Black Death?

In ancient Egypt, cats were deified and consecrated because of their ability to kill rats. This is the earliest record of cat sacrifices in the world.

With the advent of the Middle Ages, when Christian forces took control of the European continent, the sacred worship of cats quickly became history, and Christianity was regarded as a symbol of pagan deities. The Holy See portrayed cats as slaves of evil witches and incarnations of demons, which led to a huge “cat slaughter movement” in Europe. But as cats disappeared, the lack of a food chain led to a flood of rats. The rapid breeding and spread of the plague directly led to the arrival of a major disaster that swept across Europe at the beginning of the fourteenth century.

The “Black Death” plague has caused some 75 million deaths worldwide. It is estimated that about 30% of the population in medieval Europe during the plague outbreak died of the Black Death. People’s powerlessness in the face of infectious diseases has also freed their minds from the imprisonment of Christianity. More and more people see the importance of cats and keep them as pets. Since then, the Meow Star officially began to conquer the world.