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Oldest known plague outbreak occurred in Siberia 5,500 years ago, study finds
Researchers found plague DNA in 18 of 46 hunter-gatherers, showing the disease caused two outbreaks and likely spread through marmots and person-to-person contact.
- On Wednesday, researchers published findings in Nature revealing the oldest known plague outbreaks, dating back about 5,500 years among hunter-gatherers buried near Lake Baikal, Siberia.
- This discovery challenges long-standing theories that deadly epidemics required Neolithic farming or high-density settlements, showing plague emerged long before agricultural lifestyles became widespread.
- Genetic analysis of 42 hunter-gatherers revealed Yersinia pestis DNA in 18 remains, with researchers identifying marmots as the likely animal reservoir triggering infections that particularly impacted children.
- Evidence of acute mortality and mass burials indicates rapid transmission; University of Oxford geneticist Ruairidh Macleod called the findings a "devastating outbreak" affecting entire communities.
- These genomes capture plague near its evolutionary origin, pushing back the split between Y. pestis and Y. pseudotuberculosis by about 2,000 years and revealing previously unknown bacterial diversity.
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coastaltvnews.comPlague was killing hunter-gatherers 5,500 years ago: study
PARIS (FRANCE) - The plague was causing deadly outbreaks among communities of hunter-gatherers in Siberia around 5,500 years ago, according to a study on Wednesday that sheds light on how humans could have first caught this scourge.
·Bangkok, Thailand
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The History of the Plague Gets a Rewrite
The plague's first victims weren't Neolithic farmers; it killed hunter-gatherers in Siberia 5,500 years ago, per a new study in Nature . Researchers have identified the oldest-known evidence of plague by testing teeth from prehistoric skeletons buried along the Angara River. DNA from Yersinia pestis was found in about 40%...
·Miami, United States
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Leaning Left32Leaning Right20Center44Last UpdatedBias Distribution46% Center
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