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Rats and Gerbils and the Black Death

In the Middle Ages the bubonic plague killed millions of people across Europe. Rats have been widely believed to be responsible for the numerous outbreaks of Black Death. But now scientists think it was actually giant gerbils and not rats who were to blame. Weekend's Martin Vennard has been to a pet shop in London to gauge reaction to the news.

(Picture: Gerbil and black rat. Credit: Thinkstock)

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4 minutes