Contagion theory of plague (Ibn Khatima and Ibn al-Khatib)
Teoría del contagio de la peste (Ibn Játima e Ibn al-Jatib)
- Date
- 1349-1362 · confidence high
- Place
- Granada, Andalusia, Spain
- Credited to
- Ibn Khatima (Almeria) and Ibn al-Khatib (Granada)
- People
- 👤 Ibn al-Jatib1313–1374👤 Ibn Jatima1324–1369
- Field
- Life & health
What was discovered
Faced with the Black Death, both Andalusi physicians argued from observation that the disease was transmitted by contact with the sick, their clothes and utensils, and that those who isolated themselves survived. Ibn al-Khatib maintained this against dominant religious opinion.
Contemporary with the Ragusa quarantine (1377); there is no evidence of direct influence between the two men.
What it led to
- isolation of the sick as a health measure
- observational epidemiology
- Fracastoro's theory of contagion (1546)