By Ezra Ameis, DVM
Each Passover, we retell the story of the ten plagues — blood, frogs, lice, and more. But to me, they read like the unraveling of a fragile ecological world. Whether set in motion by divine design or triggered by natural events, the plagues didn’t strike at random — they unfolded step by step, a cascading public health disaster. Here’s my rundown — a vet’s perspective on the ten plagues:
Blood – It begins with the Nile turning red. A toxic algal bloom or upstream runoff from ancient Nubia? Either way, the river is poisoned. The match is lit.
Frogs – Amphibians flee toxic water — a classic sign of ecosystem collapse. Their permeable skin makes them highly vulnerable. On land, exposed and displaced, they die en masse. While pop culture often depicts this plague as frogs raining from the sky, the Exodus text describes them emerging from the Nile and overrunning every space — not falling from above.
Lice/Gnats – Rotting frog carcasses fuel insect blooms. Sanitation breaks down. Vector-borne disease surges.
Wild Beasts – As the food chains collapse, predators and rabid wildlife move into human spaces. The boundary between wild and domestic disappears, increasing zoonotic spillover risk.
Pestilence of Livestock – Wildlife-livestock contact spreads ancient diseases like Anthrax, Brucellosis, foot-and-mouth, TB, and rabies — all likely widely circulating in Exodus-era animal populations.
Boils – Human illness spikes. Likely bacterial skin infections from bites, poor hygiene, or contaminated water. Anthrax or staph infections could explain the boil-like lesions. Vulnerability deepens.
Hail – A sudden natural disaster. Maybe random — or perhaps the poisoned Nile destabilized the local climate. Crops are destroyed, animals injured, shelters lost.
Locusts – These blooms erupt every 10–15 years, often after heavy rain — exactly the conditions hail creates. They blot out the sun, devour crops, and ensure famine.
Darkness – Possibly a dust storm, volcanic ash, or the sky-thickening remnants of locust swarms. Circadian rhythms collapse. Agriculture halts. Darkness becomes despair.
Death of the Firstborn – In pre-modern outbreaks, firstborns may have lacked maternal antibodies to novel disease. Later siblings might have gained passive immunity through gestation or nursing. Even today, firstborn infants are at higher risk for complications during birth, including longer labor, higher rates of dystocia, and increased likelihood of respiratory distress — factors that amplified vulnerability in ancient times.
So why were the Israelites spared? Even without direct divine intervention, differences in geography, animal care, and cultural practices may explain why the Israelites who were living geographically separated in Goshen escaped the worst.
Chag Sameach — wishing you a Passover filled with health, freedom, and renewal. Let’s remember: freedom thrives when we care for the world we share — human, animal, and beyond.
Dr. Ezra Ameis is an emergency veterinarian and the owner of Paw Priority in West Hollywood, a clinic providing general practice, urgent care, and acupuncture. To suggest a topic or ask a pet-related question, email hello@pp.vet.