By: Grace Zhang
Historians have wondered for centuries when the Black Death really started, and a group of researchers has found a key clue using the DNA of teeth from plague victims’ bodies.
Based on what the researchers found using the DNA, they believe the Black Death began in Issyk-Kul, a lake in the lush mountains slightly west of China. This place is now called Kyrgyzstan. The plague started around the years 1338 to 1339.
Researchers found this information in the pulp of teeth from the 14th century. Wolfgang Haak and Johannes Krause of the MPIEA and the Science of Human History in Germany led this investigation along with Philip Slavin from the University of Stirling, Scotland.
Black Death (a.k.a. Black Plague) was named based on the black spots that showed up all over people’s skin. It also caused swellings in the armpits or groins of men and women. Black Death was caused by rodents who carry around fleas that have a bacterium called Yersinia pestis. Even though this disease is from almost 600 years ago, it is still around today, still carried around by rodents. Infections are very rarely seen because hygiene is better, but if infected, people can simply be cured with antibiotics. The Plague is believed to be the most deadly epidemic in the history of the world.
A medical historian named Monica H. Green said that the question “Was it really Y. pestis that caused this massive pandemic?” would never be able to be answered by historians. A while back, Dr. Green met a paleopathologist that studied leprosy, which could leave a mark on skeletons, but because the plague killed people so quickly, it couldn’t leave a mark on the bone. This way they could tell what not to pay attention to while looking for plague victims.
Dr. Fissell remarked that the search for the plague’s origin was “like a detective story”.
Dr. Green said she was certain that the group had located plague victims in Kyrgyzstan, but the evidence available now was insufficient to justify the strong claims. She expects more information to emerge, and says, “Stay tuned.”