Using DNA sequencing, researchers have finally discovered the origins of Black Death-a strain of Yersinia pestis, the medieval bubonic plague.
Key highlights
- The plague-also known as the ‘Black Death’, that spread through Eurasia and Northern Africa between 1346 and 1353 was one of the largest infectious disease episodes in human history, drastically reducing the world’s population.
- While studies have put the toll at 25 million, estimates suggest the number of fatalities could have reached 200 million.
- But despite years of research, scientists had been unable to pinpoint where the bubonic plague began. Now scientists suggest it was in Kyrgyzstan, central Asia, in the 1330s.
- A research team from the University of Stirling in Scotland and Germany’s Max Planck Institute and University of Tubingen analysed ancient DNA samples from the teeth of skeletons in cemeteries near Lake Issyk Kul, in Kyrgyzstan.
- They chose the area after noting a significant spike in burials there in 1338 and 1339.
- The research team has conducted DNA analysis of seven individuals who died in the 14th century and sequenced the strain of the original bacterium Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis).
- They analysed the teeth because they contain many blood vessels and give researchers high chances of detecting blood-borne pathogens that may have caused the deaths of the individuals.
- The research team were able to find the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, in three of them.
About Plague
- Plague is a potentially lethal infectious disease that is caused by bacteria Yersinia pestis.
- These bacteria live in some animals – mainly rodents – and their fleas.
- Bubonic plague is the most common form of the disease that people can get.
- The name comes from the symptoms it causes – painful, swollen lymph nodes or ‘buboes’ in the groin or armpit.
- It has also been called the Black Death, in reference to the gangrenous blackening and death of body parts, such as the fingers and toes, that can happen with the illness.
GS TIMES UPSC PRELIMS & MAINS CURRENT AFFAIRS BASED BASICS DAILY ONLINE TEST CLICK HERE
CLICK HERE DAILY CURRENT AFFAIRS QUIZ FOR STATE CIVIL SERVICES
MORE THAN 30 QUESTIONS FORM GS TIMES UPSC 2022 PRELIMS CURRENT AFFAIRS DAILY TEST
