Assessing the origins of the European Plagues following the Black Death: A synthesis of genomic, historical, and ecological information
Barbara Bramanti, Yarong Wu, Ruifu Yang, Yujun Cui, Nils Chr. Stenseth
Abstract
Significance Over the last few years, there has been a great deal of scientific debate regarding whether the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis , spread from a Western European reservoir during the second plague pandemic, or if it repeatedly came to Europe from Asia. Here, we make a synthesis of the available evidence, including genomes of ancient DNA and historical, archeological, and ecological information. We conclude that the bacterium most likely came to Europe from Asia several times during the second plague pandemic.
Topics & Concepts
Yersinia pestisPlague (disease)PandemicAncient DNAGeographyCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)EcologyHistoryBiologyArchaeologyDemographyInfectious disease (medical specialty)GeneticsMedicineSociologyGenePopulationDiseasePathologyVirulenceYersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites researchZoonotic diseases and public healthVector-borne infectious diseases