It seems we finally have proof of where and how the so-called "Black Death" traveled to Western Europe in about 1347. Using DNA from teeth, in graves marked with a suggestion that they all died suddenly, together, in the remote Tian Shan Mountains, near Lake Issyk-Kul, in Kyrgyzstan -- about five years before the plague is first known to have killed, in Europe. Do go read it all:
. . .For seven of the individuals, the researchers were able to extract and sequence DNA from their teeth. In this genetic material, they found the DNA of the plague bacterium -- which scientists call Yersinia pestis -- in three of the individuals, who all had the death year 1338 inscribed on their tombstones.
This confirmed that the pestilence mentioned on the tombstones was indeed the plague, which is spread from rodents to humans via fleas. . . .
In 1347, plague first entered the Mediterranean via trade ships transporting goods from territories around the Black Sea. The disease then spread across Europe, the Middle East and northern Africa, claiming up to 60% of the population, according to the study that published in the journal Nature on Wednesday. . . .
Smiling in the heat -- in spite of myself. This is outstanding pandemic bio-science, across nearly 680 years. Be excellent to one another.
नमस्ते
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