Ancient plague genomes reveal Europe’s 400-year cycle of outbreaks after the Black Death
TL;DR Summary
Researchers reconstructed 26 Yersinia pestis genomes from 11 sites dating 14th–18th centuries, showing plague repeatedly resurfaced across Europe during the Second Plague Pandemic, forming new lineages and spreading via trade, armies, and migration; improved dating links genomes to specific outbreaks and suggests multiple regional reservoirs, with climate factors such as the Great Renaissance Drought potentially driving expansions.
Topics:health#ancient-dna#historical-epidemiology#plague#science#second-plague-pandemic#yersinia-pestis
- Ancient DNA reveals how plague kept returning for 400 years after the Black Death ScienceDaily
- Plague after the Black Death returned in waves across Europe for centuries, ancient DNA shows Archaeology News Online Magazine
- A sharper picture of a pandemic: Uncovering the complex history of the plague after the Black Death Phys.org
- Plague killed Siberian hunter-gatherers 5,500 years ago UA.NEWS
- Plague was killing entire families thousands of years before the Black Death ScienceDaily
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