German geneticists argue that the plague epidemic could begin again in Europe. Previously, it was believed that the bacillus of the "black death" did not die immediately after the end of the epidemic in the XIV century, but "fell asleep" for several centuries and caused a new wave of the disease in the 18th century.
Scientists came to this conclusion after examining the mass graves of those who died from the Marseille plague in the 1720s. In the 18th century, the Grand Saint-Antoine ship entered the port of Marseille with six corpses on board. A few days later, a plague epidemic began in the city, and the sick died after 2-5 days. Quarantine measures in the no-entry and exit city have helped to ensure that the disease is not spread. As a result of the epidemic, about 100 thousand people died.
During the research work, scientists examined the teeth of five men and compared the gene of the bacteria that killed them with genes of other diseases. It turned out that the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which infected more than 60 million Europeans, Asians and Americans in the 14th century, became the causative agent of the 18th century epidemic.
Prior to that, scientists thought that the plague came to Marseilles from the Arab countries, but the results of recent experiments proved that it was not the members of the crew of the Grand Saint-Antoine, but the "sleeping" who was responsible for the mass death of thousands of people in the period from 1720 to 1722 all this time a virus. At that time, they did not know how to treat the "black death", and the only recipe was the isolation of the sick.
According to geneticists, if the plague has already "woken up" several times, then nothing will prevent the spread of the epidemic in the 21st century. Moreover, scientists have not yet figured out why the disease was reviving and then dying.
Sergey Sidorin