Successfully deciphering the secret of the origin of the Black Death

According to the Guardian, researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany, claim they have solved the nearly 700-year-old mystery of the origin of the Black Death - the deadliest pandemic in history history. The Black Death is a word used to describe the effect that the plague pandemic had on the countries of Europe, Asia, and North Africa in the mid-14th century.

Originated in Central Asia

At least tens of millions of people died as the plague raged across the continents. The cause was previously thought to be the virus spreading along trade routes. Despite aggressive efforts to find the source of this outbreak, for hundreds of years, scant evidence left this question open.

However, a few days ago, a group of experts in Germany successfully deciphered the secret of the origin of the deadliest pandemic on the planet. The findings were published in the journal Nature on June 15.

Plague bacteria taken from a patient in 2003.

Professor Johannes Krause, of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said: 'We have basically identified the origin, time and space that caused the outbreak 700 years ago. We found not only the ancestors of the Black Death, but also the ancestors of most of the disease strains that are spreading in the world today."

Philip Slavin historian, University of Stirling in Scotland, co-author, said: 'Our findings suggest that the Black Death originated in Central Asia in the 1330s and spread to many continents. They confirmed this after discovering evidence of a spike in deaths in the late 1330s at two cemeteries near Lake Issyk-Kul, in what is now eastern Kyrgyzstan.

The team of experts found ancient DNA traces of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis from the teeth of three women buried in a cemetery in the Chüy valley, near Lake Issyk Kul, at the foot of the Tian Shan mountain. These people died in 1338-1339. The earliest deaths recorded elsewhere during the pandemic were in 1346.

Discovered the origin of most of today's plague

According to Reuters, reconstruction of the pathogen's genome shows that the strain not only gave rise to the bacterium responsible for the Black Death that plagued Europe, Asia, the Middle East and North Africa, but was also the source of most strains. bubonic plague exists today.

The inscription on this stele is written in Syriac, which means: "This is the tomb of the Sanmaq believer. He died of the plague."

Among 467 tombstones dating from 1248 to 1345, Professor Slavin discovered a sudden increase in the number of dead people dating from 1338-1339 with 118 tombstones. Inscriptions on some tombstones mention the cause of death as 'mawtānā'. This is the Syriac term for 'plague'.

Further research indicated sites were excavated in the late 1880s, with about 30 skeletons removed from their graves. After studying the diaries of the excavations, Professor Slavin and his colleagues in turn discovered a number of remains, linking them to specific gravestones in many cemeteries.

These samples were then transferred to ancient DNA experts Dr Krause and Dr Maria Spyrou at the University of Tübingen, Germany. They extracted genetic material from the teeth of seven people buried in cemeteries. Three of them contained the DNA of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria that causes the plague.

Full analysis of the bacterial genome shows that it is a direct ancestor of the strain that caused the European Black Death. From this, they concluded that these people were the carriers of the disease that caused the death of more than 50% of the population of this continent afterwards.

According to the team of experts, the closest living relative of the plague virus that causes the Black Death has been found in rodents from the same area.

The Black Death is the deadliest pandemic ever recorded. Professor Slavin said it killed 50-60% of the population in the Western European regions and 50% in the Middle East, or about 50-60 million deaths. In particular, the death toll in the Caucasus, Iran and Central Asia is almost 'uncountable'.

According to the World Health Organization, 3,248 cases were reported worldwide between 2010 and 2015, causing 584 deaths. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar and Peru are the worst-affected countries.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), people often contract plague or sepsis after being bitten by a tick carrying this bacteria. We can also get sick from contact with infected animals.