Researchers find just two plague strains wiped out 30%-60% of Europe

Scientists analyzed tooth samples taken from skeletal remains of medieval victims.

Read the whole story

 

[Drizzt321]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

 

[Faceless Man]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

Y. pestis has something of a reputation for remaining viable for centuries. I believe archaeologists have standard practices for dealing with plague pits for that reason.

So I suppose we've definitely pinned the Black Death on Y. pestis, then. I had heard a few years ago that some people were claiming it was actually a hemorrhagic fever of some sort, but, as usual, never heard any follow up on it.

 

[numerobis]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

They take lots of precautions because it would really suck to do all that work and end up sequencing salmonella from the salad the researcher ate at lunch.

 

[Drizzt321]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

They take lots of precautions because it would really suck to do all that work and end up sequencing salmonella from the salad the researcher ate at lunch.

Well that, but I'm actually thinking the reverse. We do know that some microorganisms can be quite hardy, and survive things we wouldn't believe a few decades ago.

 

[Callias]

Excellent and fascinating article. As a long-time Ancient Roman and Medieval history buff, I find myself constantly amazed at the new insights we’re able to squeeze out of the finite sources left to us.

 

[daveishereagain]

It felt safe, hidden away in that dark place. It was content to wait. But it knew that some day it would be time to come out of hiding and thrive once more. It could wait. For it was patient. So patient.

 

[furrythundar]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

Depends on the bacteria and environmental factors. I would imagine they would take precautions to avoid contamination of the samples using the same methods that would prevent exposing themselves to any active contagions.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news ... ack-death/

The DNA was identified by teams of scientists from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) and the Max Planck Institute in Germany. They studied the skeletons’ teeth, because enamel acts as a kind of time capsule in preserving the genetic information of any bacteria that was circulating in the individual’s bloodstream at the time of death. The bacteria itself perished shortly after its host did, 351 years ago, so the remains pose no risk today.

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170504 ... -waking-up

In August 2016, in a remote corner of Siberian tundra called the Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic Circle, a 12-year-old boy died and at least twenty people were hospitalised after being infected by anthrax.
The theory is that, over 75 years ago, a reindeer infected with anthrax died and its frozen carcass became trapped under a layer of frozen soil, known as permafrost. There it stayed until a heatwave in the summer of 2016, when the permafrost thawed.
This exposed the reindeer corpse and released infectious anthrax into nearby water and soil, and then into the food supply. More than 2,000 reindeer grazing nearby became infected, which then led to the small number of human cases.

 

[daveishereagain]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

Depends on the bacteria and environmental factors. I would imagine they would take precautions to avoid contamination of the samples using the same methods that would prevent exposing themselves to any active contagions.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news ... ack-death/

The DNA was identified by teams of scientists from Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) and the Max Planck Institute in Germany. They studied the skeletons’ teeth, because enamel acts as a kind of time capsule in preserving the genetic information of any bacteria that was circulating in the individual’s bloodstream at the time of death. The bacteria itself perished shortly after its host did, 351 years ago, so the remains pose no risk today.

http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20170504 ... -waking-up

In August 2016, in a remote corner of Siberian tundra called the Yamal Peninsula in the Arctic Circle, a 12-year-old boy died and at least twenty people were hospitalised after being infected by anthrax.
The theory is that, over 75 years ago, a reindeer infected with anthrax died and its frozen carcass became trapped under a layer of frozen soil, known as permafrost. There it stayed until a heatwave in the summer of 2016, when the permafrost thawed.
This exposed the reindeer corpse and released infectious anthrax into nearby water and soil, and then into the food supply. More than 2,000 reindeer grazing nearby became infected, which then led to the small number of human cases.

Wow, that Siberia case is interesting and a bit scary when one considers the thawing permafrost that will increase with Climate Change.

 

[mhalpern]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

Y. pestis has something of a reputation for remaining viable for centuries. I believe archaeologists have standard practices for dealing with plague pits for that reason.

So I suppose we've definitely pinned the Black Death on Y. pestis, then. I had heard a few years ago that some people were claiming it was actually a hemorrhagic fever of some sort, but, as usual, never heard any follow up on it.

and likely are among the few people the vaccine for it is distributed to (being something that can easily be converted into a bioweapon, the facilities that can make it are few, high security, and the vaccine itself is only distributed to a small number of people unless there's an outbreak)

 

[Veritas super omens]

Miasmas were a popular diagnosis. But of course not as popular as witchcraft. Most people are unaware that the single most deadly disease on the planet has retained its miasmic name, malaria is literally latin for "bad air". Though you have to admit it rolls off the tongue easier than "aedes egyptii vectored plasmodium infection".

 

[dogwitch]

i do wonder what plagues that burnt hot and fast in early human history that we will never know of. that are stuck atm in ice sheets

 

[a nonny moose]

... do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing?

i recall the story of a british diver in the early 20th c who spent 6 years ferrying bags of concrete under winchester cathedral, thereby stabilizing the foundation and preventing ruin. it was said that every day he feared contamination because of the graves nearby.

edit: cathedral tribute


wtf??

 

[NinjaNerd56]

So some bugs got medieval on those folks...

...maybe a film about this will be Tarantino’s last movie.

 

[yandarval]

If anyone is interested in more background about Y. pestis, the two Erin's have you covered.

This Podcast Will Kill You

Episodes 5 and 6

[url=https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/ep-6-plague-part-2-tgfa/id1299915173?i=1000396096324[/url]

 

[Veritas super omens]

i do wonder what plagues that burnt hot and fast in early human history that we will never know of. that are stuck atm in ice sheets

Plagues don't do well with small isolated populations. You need cities full of people cheek by jowl. It helps of course if you have poor hygiene habits, and enough trade to vector infection from one to the next. One of the venerated saints (I don't recall which) decided that illness was a moral failing and could be cured by prayer, setting the course of medical advancement back by nearly a thousand years.

 

[Oldmanalex]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

Ironically, the long dead would probably be the safest source of infection for Y Pestis. Several antibiotics deal with it very well, but as usual antibiotic resistance is on the rise, and may become critical in the not too distant future. However, a 14th century bacterium would be readily slaughtered by those now failing antibiotics.

 

[Veritas super omens]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

Ironically, the long dead would probably be the safest source of infection for Y Pestis. Several antibiotics deal with it very well, but as usual antibiotic resistance is on the rise, and may become critical in the not too distant future. However, a 14th century bacterium would be readily slaughtered by those now failing antibiotics.

"safest source for infection"? Interesting choice of words, oldman.

 

[Caillebotte]

Miasmas were a popular diagnosis. But of course not as popular as witchcraft. Most people are unaware that the single most deadly disease on the planet has retained its miasmic name, malaria is literally latin for "bad air". Though you have to admit it rolls off the tongue easier than "aedes egyptii vectored plasmodium infection".

Malaria indeed means bad air. However, Aedes egyptii carries yellow fever, not malaria. Malaria is carried by genus Anopheles mosquitoes, especially Anopheles gambiae.

And the deadliest pathogen, in terms of total deaths, may be influenza, given the populations involved.

 

[Metasurreal]

Thank-you for this article. I think the Ars coverage of Anthropology, History, and Archeology has become excellent recently. Many thanks to Ms. Ouellette in particular for this one, but the current Ars "soft"-science journalists are all very good.

 

[50me12]

I wonder about the social impacts such as how these people viewed life and death when you encountered a situation where one in 10 people died and I wonder how it impacted everyday life, the social order and etc.

 

[cwsars]

I wonder about the social impacts such as how these people viewed life and death when you encountered a situation where one in 10 people died and I wonder how it impacted everyday life, the social order and etc.

During plague years-- or times of dire famine, even-- parents tended not to name their newborn children until they'd survived the first year.

 

[dogwitch]

i do wonder what plagues that burnt hot and fast in early human history that we will never know of. that are stuck atm in ice sheets

Plagues don't do well with small isolated populations. You need cities full of people cheek by jowl. It helps of course if you have poor hygiene habits, and enough trade to vector infection from one to the next. One of the venerated saints (I don't recall which) decided that illness was a moral failing and could be cured by prayer, setting the course of medical advancement back by nearly a thousand years.

true but you never know. seeing how some of this last so long buried.

 

[nathand496]

I wonder about the social impacts such as how these people viewed life and death when you encountered a situation where one in 10 people died and I wonder how it impacted everyday life, the social order and etc.

Behold, the Danse Macabre

Also, worker shortage resulted in wage increases, and there was even more persecution of Jews.

 

[Bodhisattva Smith]

Definitely the most interesting and enjoyable course of my nursing prerequisites was microbiology. Of course it helped having an excellent professor who produced and starred in a "Mr. Wizard" like science show for kids on local television. He had a knack for making the complicated easy to understand. Of course it came in handy understanding how pathogens really worked so you never took personal protective equipment lightly, although thanks to an extremely confused and combative patient, I did manage to get stuck with a used needle. Naturally she was HIV positive. I was trying to hold her arm steady so another nurse could place a PPD test (TB) and she managed to swat the syringe out of her hand, it flew a few feet into the air, and land needle first in the back of my hand. Needless to say, it sucked. The infection control Dr., a friend and a brilliant doctor, happened to be on the floor at the time so he eased my fears. Tiny needle barrel on a TB syringe, had been injecting into the patient instead of drawing blood so blood content was minimal, and he was following the patient and knew she had a low viral count. Had some bloodwork done and was put on antivirals prophylactically for awhile that our hospital tried to bill me for even though it was a workplace injury (I finally just had to scream at the collections department that the whole thing is supposed to be confidential, but it was a workplace injury, I was stuck with an HIV needle, and if they called again they'd hear from my lawyer). No virus in me after all the required checkups. God how I hate hospital bureaucracy! I'm now very happily retired.

 

[slopoke]

the pandemic spread from a single entry point into Europe from the East—specifically, a Russian town called Laishev

Nothing good comes out of Russia.

Tetris?

 

[Ezzy Black]

There is a book by Sci-Fi author Kim Stanley Robinson called The Years of Rice and Salt.

It's an alternate history that explores the idea that the plagues simply wiped out European civilization and most of Christianity with it. It's terribly interesting involving multiple stories about the Chinese discovering and colonizing the Americas, enlightened Muslim scholars making the basic scientific breakthroughs of Newton and Einstein, among other things.

Very good reading.

 

[TheBrett]

There is a book by Sci-Fi author Kim Stanley Robinson called The Years of Rice and Salt.

It's an alternate history that explores the idea that the plagues simply wiped out European civilization and most of Christianity with it. It's terribly interesting involving multiple stories about the Chinese discovering and colonizing the Americas, enlightened Muslim scholars making the basic scientific breakthroughs of Newton and Einstein, among other things.

Very good reading.

I get that it's just a premise for the "What If?", but that never made sense to me. The Plague actually did hit the Middle East and North Africa at roughly the same time it hit Europe, with a similar death rate. It may have hit China in the 1330s, although it's hard to tell because the mid-14th century was just a disastrous period for China in general.

 

[Router66]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

Y. pestis has something of a reputation for remaining viable for centuries. I believe archaeologists have standard practices for dealing with plague pits for that reason.

So I suppose we've definitely pinned the Black Death on Y. pestis, then. I had heard a few years ago that some people were claiming it was actually a hemorrhagic fever of some sort, but, as usual, never heard any follow up on it.

The potential danger comes from bacterial spores in the pits and bodies but standard procedures (gardening gloves and surgical masks) suffice. Yersinia enters the human body either through parasites that carry it from rodents, or through inhalation - thus the pneumonic form.

As for your next paragraph, I 'm one of the minority. There are a number of issues but the chief one is epidemiology. Rodents don't travel or follow caravans, so it's difficult to see how the plague could spread from the Ukraine to Britain, Cairo and Beijing in 5-6 years. Also, the Black Death devastated Iceland - a rat free country in the 14th century.

Last, each and every genetic research on Black Death includes samples from later outbreaks and epidemics. This is very useful in reconstructing the evolution of Yersinia's genome but litle more. Yersinia was present in Europe, at least since the late Roman empire and it certainly killed scores of people. The Black Death appeared suddenly and burned through the Old World for about ten years. Either it was a form of yersinia that somehow changed and became more virulent, or it's a different pathogen. Yet, this and a few other similar projects show genetic consistency. Yersinia strains don't seem distant enough (in genetic terms) to justify such a different behavior.

Anyway, it's almost an esoteric debate among certain microbiologists, archaeologists and the like. Personally, I will be convinced only when I see the genetics of Yersinia strains from the Italian mass graves of the 14th century. In Florence, Sienna, Naples etc, there are reports about thousands of bodies dropped in pits. If those massive pits are ever excavated and show Yersinia, there will be no doubt and the debate will cease forever. Till then, the epidemiology remains wrong.

 

[Router66]

There is a book by Sci-Fi author Kim Stanley Robinson called The Years of Rice and Salt.

It's an alternate history that explores the idea that the plagues simply wiped out European civilization and most of Christianity with it. It's terribly interesting involving multiple stories about the Chinese discovering and colonizing the Americas, enlightened Muslim scholars making the basic scientific breakthroughs of Newton and Einstein, among other things.

Very good reading.

I get that it's just a premise for the "What If?", but that never made sense to me. The Plague actually did hit the Middle East and North Africa at roughly the same time it hit Europe, with a similar death rate. It may have hit China in the 1330s, although it's hard to tell because the mid-14th century was just a disastrous period for China in general.

In fact, it might have been even more devastating in the Middle East. An Egyptian scholar mentions twenty desert tribes simply "vanishing", while the Mamluks ended up filling ships with the dead and burning them offshore.

 

[Carewolf]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

The plague is not dangerous anymore since the advent of antibiotics. And it is so old it doesn't have resistence to any of them.

 

[cwsars]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

The plague is not dangerous anymore since the advent of antibiotics. And it is so old it doesn't have resistence to any of them.

Even something which is highly treatable remains dangerous if it can kill folks who don't have good access to medicines such as antibiotics.

 

[Faceless Man]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

The plague is not dangerous anymore since the advent of antibiotics. And it is so old it doesn't have resistence to any of them.

According to the CDC, the mortality rate is around 11%, even with access to effective antibiotics.

Of course, there are a lot fewer cases these days, and mortality was 66% before modern antibiotics, but 11% mortality sounds like it's still dangerous.

 

[Carewolf]

Hm. I know these are long dead people, and you'd think all of the bacterium would have been completely dead. But do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing? Or are they just so broken down the only reason they can reconstruct the DNA is by massive sampling to get enough fragments which more or less overlap and complete the DNA coding?

The plague is not dangerous anymore since the advent of antibiotics. And it is so old it doesn't have resistence to any of them.

According to the CDC, the mortality rate is around 11%, even with access to effective antibiotics.

Of course, there are a lot fewer cases these days, and mortality was 66% before modern antibiotics, but 11% mortality sounds like it's still dangerous.

I assume that is because it goes unrecognized since it is so rare now, but yes that is lot higher than I expected

 

[Blind Badger]

... do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing?

i recall the story of a british diver in the early 20th c who spent 6 years ferrying bags of concrete under winchester cathedral, thereby stabilizing the foundation and preventing ruin. it was said that every day he feared contamination because of the graves nearby.

edit: cathedral tribute


wtf??

What surprises me is that the other people in that streetview picture don't appear to have been made less recognisable through blurring. I thought that was standard practice?

 

[SixDegrees]

... do archaeologists need to take special care, especially for known plague victims, in excavating and taking samples and analyzing?

i recall the story of a british diver in the early 20th c who spent 6 years ferrying bags of concrete under winchester cathedral, thereby stabilizing the foundation and preventing ruin. it was said that every day he feared contamination because of the graves nearby.

edit: cathedral tribute


wtf??

What surprises me is that the other people in that streetview picture don't appear to have been made less recognisable through blurring. I thought that was standard practice?

It's algorithm-driven, untouched by human hands. It's not perfect. Unless someone lodges a report, the false negatives just remain there.

 

[weaseltango]

Wow, that Siberia case is interesting and a bit scary when one considers the thawing permafrost that will increase with Climate Change.

Long frozen pathogens thawing out of the ice is basically the plot of the (Sky Atlantic) drama Fortitude. Oh, and John Carpenter's The Thing