The Black Death
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News
Researchers scour more than 600 genome sequences in quest for origins of Black Death
Researchers seeking to better understand the origins and movement of bubonic plague have completed a painstaking granular examination of hundreds of modern and ancient genome sequences, the largest analysis of its kind.
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News
The plague may have caused the downfall of the Stone Age farmers
Ancient DNA from bones and teeth hints at a role of the plague in Stone Age population collapse. Contrary to previous beliefs, the plague may have diminished Europe’s populations long before the major plague outbreaks of the Middle Ages.
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News
Researchers unmask an old foe’s tricks to thwart new diseases
Researchers are studying Yersinia pestis, the bacterium that causes bubonic and pneumonic plague, to better understand its ability to evade the immune system and apply that understanding to control other pathogens.
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News
4,000-year-old plague DNA found – the oldest cases to date in Britain
Researchers have identified three 4,000-year-old British cases of Yersinia pestis, the bacteria causing the plague – the oldest evidence of the plague in Britain to date.
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News
Study reveals how plague spreads through wild rodent populations
Mathematical modeling reveals how fleas with early-stage Yersinia pestis infections are insufficient to drive epizootic outbreaks but can help promote a low level of enzootic plague.
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Features
London's hidden plague pits
Bunhill Fields cemetery in the City Road is a quiet haven on the edge of the City of London, mainly attracting office workers seeking lunchtime tranquility or possibly a shortcut to the Artillery Arms pub in Bunhill Row.