Ancient DNA provides evidence of earliest known plague outbreak
7 hours ago
- #ancient DNA
- #paleopathology
- #plague history
- Earliest plague evidence found in Siberian hunter-gatherers from 5,500 years ago.
- Ancient DNA from 42 skeletons reveals high plague infection rates, especially among children.
- Plague likely spread from marmots to humans via butchering or consuming raw meat.
- Two distinct outbreaks occurred 400–600 years apart, decimating small, sparse communities.
- Pneumonic plague form suspected; Y. pestis carried a superantigen increasing lethality for children.
- Findings challenge assumptions that plague only affected dense, medieval urban populations.