Black Death plague said extinct
Source: Agencies |
August 31, 2011, Wednesday
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THE version of plague that caused the Black Death in 14th century Europe may now be extinct, researchers report, but other deadly forms remain in circulation today.
The plague that ravaged Europe wiped out nearly a third to two-thirds of the population according to various estimates. Its cause was eventually identified as the bacteria Yersinia pestis.
A new study of DNA from people who died of the plague in London has now identified the form of the germ that caused their deaths, the researchers report in yesterday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The remains of more than 100 plague victims buried between 1348 and 1350 in the East Smithfield burial site showed evidence of a strain of Y. pestis, according to the researchers led by Hendrik Poinar of McMaster University in Canada, and Johannes Krause of Tuebingen University in Germany. "Our data reveal that the Black Death in medieval Europe was caused by a variant of Y. pestis that may no longer exist," the researchers wrote.
That doesn't mean it's safe to relax, noted Ole Georg Moseng of the Institute of Health and Society at the University of Oslo, Norway. Other forms are still dangerous, although it varies by strain.
The plague that ravaged Europe wiped out nearly a third to two-thirds of the population according to various estimates. Its cause was eventually identified as the bacteria Yersinia pestis.
A new study of DNA from people who died of the plague in London has now identified the form of the germ that caused their deaths, the researchers report in yesterday's edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
The remains of more than 100 plague victims buried between 1348 and 1350 in the East Smithfield burial site showed evidence of a strain of Y. pestis, according to the researchers led by Hendrik Poinar of McMaster University in Canada, and Johannes Krause of Tuebingen University in Germany. "Our data reveal that the Black Death in medieval Europe was caused by a variant of Y. pestis that may no longer exist," the researchers wrote.
That doesn't mean it's safe to relax, noted Ole Georg Moseng of the Institute of Health and Society at the University of Oslo, Norway. Other forms are still dangerous, although it varies by strain.
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