These findings suggest a new strain of plague could emerge again in humans in the future.
An international team of scientists has discovered that two of the world’s most devastating plagues – the plague of Justinian and the Black Death, each responsible for killing as many as half the people in Europe—were caused by distinct strains of the same pathogen, one that faded out on its own, the other leading to worldwide spread and re-emergence in the late 1800s.
These findings suggest a new strain of plague could emerge again in humans in the future.
“The research is both fascinating and perplexing, it generates new questions which need to be explored, for example why did this pandemic, which killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people die out?” questions Hendrik Poinar, associate professor and director of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre and an investigator with the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research.
The findings are dramatic because little has been known about the origins or cause of the Justinian Plague– which helped bring an end to the Roman Empire – and its relationship to the Black Death, some 800 years later.
Scientists hope this could lead to a better understanding of the dynamics of modern infectious disease, including a form of the plague that still kills thousands every year.
The Plague of Justinian struck in the sixth century and is estimated to have killed between 30 and 50 million people — virtually half the world’s population as it spread across Asia, North Africa, Arabia and Europe. The Black Death would strike some 800 years later with similar force, killing 50 million Europeans between just 1347 and 1351 alone.
Using sophisticated methods, researchers from many universities including McMaster University, Northern Arizona University and the University of Sydney, isolated minuscule DNA fragments from the 1500-year-old teeth of two victims of the Justinian plague, buried in Bavaria, Germany. These are the oldest pathogen genomes obtained to date.
Using these short fragments, they reconstructed the genome of the oldest Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for the plague, and compared it to a database of genomes of more than a hundred contemporary strains.
The results are currently published in the online edition of The Lancet Infectious Disease. They show the strain responsible for the Justinian outbreak was an evolutionary ‘dead-end’ and distinct from strains involved later in the Black Death and other plague pandemics that would follow.
The third pandemic, which spread from Hong Kong across the globe is likely a descendant of the Black Death strain and thus much more successful than the one responsible for the Justinian Plague.
“We know the bacterium Y. pestis has jumped from rodents into humans throughout history and rodent reservoirs of plague still exist today in many parts of the world. If the Justinian plague could erupt in the human population, cause a massive pandemic, and then die out, it suggest it could happen again. Fortunately we now have antibiotics that could be used to effectively treat plague, which lessens the chances of another large scale human pandemic” says Dave Wagner, an associate professor in the Center for Microbial Genetics and Genomics at Northern Arizona University.
The samples used in the latest research were taken from two victims of the Justinian plague, buried in a gravesite in a small cemetery in the German town of Aschheim. Scientists believe the victims died in the latter stages of the epidemic when it had reached southern Bavaria, likely sometime between 541 and 543.
The skeletal remains yielded important clues and raised more questions.
The Latest on: Pandemics
[google_news title=”” keyword=”Pandemics” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Pandemics
- Scientists Develop Simple Vaccine With Potential to Stop Future Pandemicson May 7, 2024 at 7:43 pm
The rapid development of vaccines that protect against COVID was a remarkable scientific achievement that saved millions of lives.
- The big lesson from past pandemics? Avoid panic buying, says new researchon May 7, 2024 at 1:11 pm
COVID-19 upended almost every aspect of daily life, including consumer and retailer behavior. However, it was not the first pandemic that changed how we shop.
- Strong leadership needed for a more resilient world against future pandemics: PM Hasinaon May 7, 2024 at 7:10 am
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said today a strong and decisive leadership will be essential in shaping a more resilient and prepared world against future pandemics. "As we navigate the complexities of ...
- Future pandemics will have the same human causes as ancient outbreaks − lessons from anthropology can help prevent themon May 7, 2024 at 5:33 am
The last pandemic was bad, but COVID-19 is only one of many infectious diseases that emerged since the turn of this century. Since 2000, the world has experienced 15 novel Ebola epidemics, the global ...
- Changes after COVID-19: Science academies discuss global health approaches for future pandemicson May 6, 2024 at 4:59 pm
The coronavirus pandemic put healthcare systems around the world under enormous strain and revealed weaknesses when it comes to managing global health crises. Healthcare inequalities, gaps in data ...
- Pandemic agreement that encourages global preparedness nearing finalization | Fact checkon May 6, 2024 at 1:14 pm
An effort by World Health Organization members to reach an agreement meant to help countries prevent and respond to future pandemics is ongoing.
- No one wants to think about pandemics. But bird flu doesn’t care.on May 4, 2024 at 7:04 pm
A pandemic response that amounts to hoping and praying isn’t nearly enough.
- Lessons from COVID-19: Preparing for future pandemics means looking beyond the health dataon May 4, 2024 at 7:30 am
The World Health Organization declared an end to the COVID-19 public health emergency on May 5, 2023. In the year since, only two provinces—Alberta and Ontario—have published proposals for dealing ...
- ASEAN, Japan, China, S. Korea ensure funds for pandemics, disasterson May 3, 2024 at 7:29 pm
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations plus Japan, China and South Korea on Friday agreed to provide each other funds in times ...
- 4 years after COVID, we are still lacking an international prevention planon May 3, 2024 at 10:30 am
f negotiators fail to act, they place all of humanity at grave risk of a global health catastrophe, and the harsh judgment of generations who would look back at this inflection point in horror at ...
via Bing News