The Black Death devastated Europe, West Asia and North Africa from 1347 to 1352, and is the most infamous pandemic in history, wiping away up to 50% of Europe’s population, transforming religious and political structures, giving scope for the Renaissance. Although ancient DNA research has identified ‘Yersinia pestis’ as the Black Death’s causative agent that evolved across millennia, its origins have long been elusive. This points to an origin of Black Death’s ancestor in Central Asia,” explains Johannes Krause, senior author of the study and director at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Read: Ancient DNA traces origin of Black Death (June 16, 2022)It lacked the gene that first let fleas act as vectors to spread the plague. Researchers estimate that it took thousands of years for Yersinia pestis bacteria to acquire all the mutations needed for flea-based transmission in the Medieval Period.

Source: The North Africa Journal June 17, 2022 22:29 UTC