It was Yersinia pestis that became the "ancestor" of the deadly pandemics that wiped out half the world.
The oldest bacterium of the bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis, was found in the Samara region. It was discovered during the study of a 3800-year-old burial ground near the village of Mikhailovsky. This is the oldest specimen found. Two of those buried were infected with the bubonic plague. The excavations were carried out by scientists from the Institute for the Science of Human History of the M. Planck Society (Germany) and the Kazan Federal University (KFU). Samara archaeologists, Viktor Tsybin, Vitaly Kondrashin and Alexander Khokhlov, have been studying genes. The analysis itself was carried out in the genetic laboratory of Johannes Krause. The research results are published in the journal Nature.
- Pathogens in bone tissue show the presence or absence of any disease in antiquity. The pathogen found shows the presence of bubonic plague, - explains Alexander Khokhlov, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of Biology, Ecology and Teaching Methods, Head of the Volga-Ural Center for Paleoanthropological Research. - The disease raged in Europe in the Middle Ages. The Black Death mowed down more than 30 million people. It was the bacteria of this disease that were found in the Samara region. However, the discovered pathogen probably dates back to the 16th century BC. That is, these are the most ancient samples.
It is possible that the terrible disease began in the Samara region.
Thus, it is possible that the terrible disease began precisely in the Samara region. However, such genes may be discovered in other areas as well.
- We know that in the 16th century BC. there was a high mortality rate - in Kazakhstan, in the Volga region. But they did not know the reason, - says Alexander Khokhlov. - And for the first time, based on the results of the analysis, a real scientific version appeared.
The scientist emphasizes: this is exclusively science, no one can get infected with the plague from excavated samples. In principle, there is no danger of being infected.
Studies of the stick, found in a burial ground in the Samara region, were carried out by geneticists from a German institute. They decoded its genome and found that it was adapted to spread through stomachs and fleas.
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MARIA SHESTAKOVA