DNA study reveals origin of world’s first pandemic
Secrets of plague bacterium revealed by mass grave
- Scientists have successfully deciphered the genome of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for the Justinian Plague, from a mass grave in Jerash, Jordan.
- This discovery provides definitive biological proof that Yersinia pestis caused the devastating pandemic, resolving a long-standing historical mystery.
- The research confirmed the bacterium was present within the Byzantine Empire between 550AD and 660AD, with victims carrying nearly identical strains, indicating a rapid and widespread outbreak.
- A companion study revealed that Yersinia pestis circulated for millennia before the Justinian outbreak
- It also showed that subsequent plague pandemics originated independently from animal reservoirs, not a single ancestral strain.