Established the place where the medieval pandemic began the plague

The anti-plague wand, which caused the plague pandemic, which erupted in Europe in the Middle Ages, has periodically appeared in Western Europe, causing new epidemics of the disease. According to an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the pathogen of the plague would likely have been routed by trade routes from Central Asia or the Western Urals. The authors of the study came to this conclusion after studying historical and archaeological data, as well as the five genomes of the causative agent found in the remains of medieval Europeans, writes N + 1.

The plague pandemic, often called the black plague, began in Europe in the mid-fourteenth century and continued until the end of the eighteenth century. According to various estimates, at the first outbreak of the disease (1347-1353), 30 to 50% of the continent's population would be dead. Subsequently, the plague began every 10-15 years in different European countries. It is known that the plague belongs to the zoonoses, that is to say that it is transmitted from animals (rodents) to humans and that the fleas of rats are l '. one of the vectors of infection. Animals are the natural reservoir of the plague stem. Yersinia pestis.

Researchers have repeatedly wondered how and where a pathogen could persist for so long. To answer it, two hypotheses have been put forward. According to the first of them, after the wand of the plague hit Europe in the middle of the fourteenth century, it remained in one or more reservoirs in Western Europe and periodically caused epidemics of the disease. According to the second hypothesis, the anti-plague rod would be periodically introduced in Western Europe by East Asia or Central Asia, along the trade routes.

To clarify this issue, researchers from Norway, France, Italy and the United Kingdom, led by Nils Stenseth of the University of Oslo, sequenced five genes from the plague bacillus which they found in mid-fourteenth century burials in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Norway. As reference genomes, researchers used sequences of 126 modern species. Y. pestisand 14 already published genomes of the rod of medieval plague. In addition, the authors of the article badyzed historical sources and archaeological discoveries from European burials.

The researchers therefore concluded that Y. pestis I came periodically to Western Europe, probably along the trade routes, with goods. It turned out that the genome of the anti-plague rod, found in the remains of Italy, Tuscany, was different from the DNA of other medieval strains. Researchers have suggested that it is possible that this type of bacteria arrived in Pisa aboard merchant ships (in the Middle Ages, it was an important port), and then in other parts of the world. other regions of Italy.

The two genomes of the plague bacillus found during a burial in the Netherlands were found to be genetically similar to the genomes of a bacterium found in the remains of a plague victim in London and France. Bulgarians. In both cities, plague outbreaks occurred in the early 1360s. Bulgaria was the prosperous state capital of Bulgaria, the Volga, and an important trading center. It was destroyed several times by the Mongols, whose city was burned down in 1361. During excavations at the Bulgarians, archaeologists found seals of lead from Flanders in the middle of the fourteenth century, which were hanging on rolls of fabric. The results showed that Flanders and Bulgaria Volga were trading, so that the anti-plague rod could move from one country to another with the goods.

Regarding the similar strain Y. pestis from London she could come with fur from Veliky Novgorod or Bulgar. In the Middle Ages, these two cities were centers of fur trade. Novgorod was also part of the Hanseatic League. In turn, England has granted trade privileges to merchants of Hanseatic cities. It is therefore likely that the Novgorod furs via the Hanseatic cities of Germany arrived in London.

Another way in which the anti-plague rod could end up in Europe was the trade route between the same Bulgar and the Black Sea Kaffa (now Feodosiya), then between the countries of Southern Europe . In the mid-fourteenth century, the leaders of the Golden Horde, who ruled the Volga in Bulgaria, introduced new rules for the fur trade. After that, Bulgarian traders began to import furs from the so-called "Land of Darkness", allegedly on the Kama River. At the same time, a new trade route from the capital of the Golden Saray Horde appeared across the cities of Crimea up to Europe. The Arab historian Ibn al-Vardi, who died of plague in Aleppo in 1349, established a correlation between the occurrence of an infection and the return of Arab merchants from Crimea. He wrote that the "land of darkness" was the birthplace of the plague, in which the disease was declared 15 years earlier than in Europe. Merchants could perhaps bring the pathogen along with fur from Saray or Crimean cities. It is also likely that Bulgarian merchants sell the fur trade not only to Europeans, but also to Central Asian countries, where the plague pathogen is still present. And Asian countries Y. pestis on the trade routes could fall repeatedly in Europe.

Previously, scientists have shown that outbreaks of plague had occurred in Europe and the Stone Age. The causal agent came from Central Asia, then "came back". And the earliest pest of the modern type, about 3800 years old, was found in the Samara region.