"We know that trade was likely a determining factor to the dispersal of plague into Europe during the beginning of the Black Death. The Black Death was the deadliest pandemic on record. An "unaccountable number" of people also died in the Caucasus, Iran and Central Asia, Slavin added. The researchers analyzed teeth, a rich source of DNA, from seven people buried in cemeteries of communities called Burana and Kara-Djigach, obtaining plague DNA from three in Kara-Djigach. "We found that the closest living relatives of that Y. pestis strain that gave rise to the Black Death are still found in marmots in that region today," Krause said.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 16, 2022 11:27 UTC