By: Alan Wang
Researchers looked through the teeth of people buried in the 1300s to determine the origin of the Black Plague. They found out that the disease began infecting humans around 1338 or 1339 near a mountainous region west of China which is now called Kyrgyzstan.
The Black Death is a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. This bacterium was carried by fleas that inhabited rodents. The Black Death was called the “Black” Death because it gave victims black spots. This petrifying disease still exists today on marsupials, however, due to higher hygiene standards and better medicines, humans do not catch it anymore.
During the 14th century, the sickness traveled by merchants and slowly reached Europe. This made the disease more dangerous as it spread significantly faster in cities. Using the knowledge of the disease spreading through trade routes, the researchers searched through the path of the epidemic looking through China, Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East.
Before, scientists were not able to study plagues like the Black Death because the people that carried this disease often died before it could leave any marks on bones. This is vital to tracing a disease’s origin because marks on bones are made when there is trauma on the body.
However, with the new findings of teeth, these better-preserved artifacts can be used to more accurately track where and when this disease began.
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