The Latest Breaking News from Black Death

For centuries, scientists and historians have wondered where the Black Death — the deadliest pandemic in recorded history — came from. New research sheds light on the ancient disease.

The Black Death, the biggest pandemic of our history, was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis 

It is not an exaggeration to say that the question of where and when the Black Death, the deadliest pandemic ever, originated is one of the biggest mysteries in human history. After all, the Black Death was the first wave of the second plague pandemic of the 14th to early…

The team of scientists from Stirling University were among the team that were tasked with discovering the origins of the deadly plague.

“We found the Black Death’s source strain, and we even know its exact date — 1338,” says Maria Spyrou, lead author of the research reported in the journal Nature.

DNA analysis of seven people who died in the 14th century suggests the Black Death may have originated in modern-day Kyrgyzstan.

The bubonic plague outbreak ravaged the world from 1346 to 1353 and is the most deadly pandemic recorded in human history killing around 200 million people

International team link spike in deaths at cemeteries in Kyrgyzstan in 1300s to start of plague pandemic

The medieval plague, which killed millions, is believed to have emerged in North Kyrgyzstan in the late 14th century.

The Black Death was only possible because human civilization had become advanced enough to allow rats to survive and flourish, according to the first study of the ancient genes of the black rat.

The 14th century is known for catastrophe. By midcentury, the first wave of plague spread through a Europe already weakened by successive famines and the Hundred Years War between England and France. And crises just kept coming. After the first wave, which has come to be called the Black Death,…