Plague decoded: Researchers link 2 of the most devastating pandemics in history

ctvnews.ca ^ | January 27, 2014 | Christina Commisso

[John W]

An international team of scientists has discovered that two of the most devastating pandemics in human history -- responsible for killing as much as half the population in Europe at the time -- were caused by strains of the same bacterium.

The researchers announced Monday that the Plague of Justinian and the Black Death were caused by distinct strains of the same pathogen, and warned that similar pandemics can strike again.

The Plague of Justinian struck in the 6th century and is estimated to have killed between 30 and 50 million people -- virtually half the world’s population as it spread across Asia, North Africa, parts of the Middle East and Europe.

The Black Death struck about 800 years later, killing an estimated 50 million Europeans between just 1347 and 1351 alone.

Researchers were able to isolate miniscule DNA fragments from the 1500-year-old teeth of two victims of the Plague of Justinian who were buried in Bavaria, Germany. They then reconstructed the genome of the oldest Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for these plagues, and compared it to a database of genomes of more than a hundred contemporary strains.

The bacterium Yersinia pestis has jumped from rodents to humans throughout history, and Poinar said rodent reservoirs of plague still exist today in parts of Asia and Ukraine.

"What (the study) does seem to suggest is that obviously Yersinia pestis has this tremendous capability of emerging and re-emerging from these centres with these rodents," said Hendrik Poinar, director of the McMaster Ancient DNA Centre.

[Valpal1]

The bacterium Yersinia pestis has jumped from rodents to humans throughout history, and Poinar said rodent reservoirs of plague still exist today in parts of Asia and Ukraine.

There are rodent reservoirs in the American West as well.

[ClearCase_guy]

Very much related, you know. The plague devastated the Byzantine Empire, and when the Arabs got a fancy new religion, they started expanding and the weakened Byzantines could not stop them effectively. Islam became large and self-sustaining because of this.

Urban civilization does poorly in a time of plague. Nomads living in the desert get off comparatively lightly.

[JimSEA]

The plague has sickened and even killed people on the Navaho Reservation and Eastern Oregon off the top of my head.

[P.O.E.]

Reminds me of Gilbert & Sullivan:

Captain.
......
At the fury of a gale,
And I’m never, never sick at sea!

Chorus.
What, never?

Captain.
No, never!

Chorus.
What, never?

Captain.
Hardly ever!

[Paladin2]

It just suddenly struck me that here is a possible explanation of the breakout.

I'm sure many have studied this in detail.

[ClearCase_guy]

Natural reservoirs seem to be prairie dogs and the like. In our SW that is the case. In Asia, the marmots that live on the steppes are a reservoir. Historically, when populations love across the steppes they risk entering a plague reservoir and then carrying the fleas to a new destination. In an urban environment, of course, the brown rat is a common way for the disease to spread to humans, but this is not considered a natural reservoir. It's a temporary vector.

Grasslands and deserts are where plague can live for centuries, biding its time.

[bigheadfred]

There are rodent reservoirs in the American West as well.

ah ya but the 'rat infestation is endemic everwhere so what is the new plague i can only guess but only my death panel knows fer sure

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

It's them furruners I tell ya! Them furruners!

[yarddog]

I think Athens lost the Peloponnesian war because of the plague. Thucydides had the plague and described it in detail. It does not fit any known disease.

I think archaeologists studied some of the bodies buried 2500 years ago and scientists decided it was typhoid but I think they are wrong.

There was also a world wide flu pandemic in 1918 which killed millions.

[Mark17]

Bring out your dead!

I saw a movie (possibly a Mel Brooks comedy movie) where the guy was pushing a cart of dead people, saying exactly that, when one of the guys laying on the cart said, but I am not dead yet. The guy pushing the cart looked around to make sure no body was watching, then rapped him upside the head till he WAS dead. In the context of the comedy movie, it was pretty funny, though I would not want it to happen for real.

[null and void]

Y'all DO know the back story on how The Plague became endemic to America, doncha?

[certrtwngnut]

Guam has taken all of the planes off of the island. The weight of the planes was causing it to tip over.

[Fiji Hill]

From what I remember reading years ago, the real problem with plague, aside from fleas, was the black rat (Rattus rattus) which nowadays has been largely displaced by the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus).

The California tree rat, which loves to inhabit the mats of dead fronds on the trunks of Washington palm trees, so commonplace in California is, from what I understand, the same species (rattus rattus) as the plague rat. The brown rat (rattus norvegucus) is also known as the New York City sewer rat.

[Mark17]

Bring out your dead!

I saw a movie (possibly a Mel Brooks comedy movie) where the guy was pushing a cart of dead people, saying exactly that, when one of the guys laying on the cart said, but I am not dead yet. The guy pushing the cart looked around to make sure no body was watching, then rapped him upside the head till he WAS dead. In the context of the comedy movie, it was pretty funny, though I would not want it to happen for real.

[lepton]

That scene is the reference for the comment.

[PghBaldy]

Plagues apparently killed a much higher percentage of the Earth than Communism or Nazism.

[eartrumpet]

I hear the plague is quite susceptible to modern antibiotics--unless biowarfare people have fooled around with it. They wouldn't do that, would they?

I don't even think they can do something like that.

Uh oh.

Researchers were able to isolate miniscule DNA fragments from the 1500-year-old teeth of two victims of the Plague of Justinian who were buried in Bavaria, Germany. They then reconstructed the genome of the oldest Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for these plagues, and compared it to a database of genomes of more than a hundred contemporary strains.

[Fiji Hill]

The plague devastated the Byzantine Empire, and when the Arabs got a fancy new religion, they started expanding and the weakened Byzantines could not stop them effectively. Islam became large and self-sustaining because of this.

Another problem was that the Romans and the Persians had been at war with each other and had punched themselves out by the time the Arab Muslims were on the move.

[Mark17]

Oops

[ClearCase_guy]

I believe Chinese labor imported to build railroads is usually cited.