New discoveries have emerged regarding the Black Plague, the deadliest epidemic recorded in human history. It is thought to cause the death of 75-200 million people. The source of the disease was recorded in the official books as the Far East. Researchers have revealed clearer findings at the end of 700 years. Although various theories have been put forward about the source of the Black Plague epidemic, which has caused death in 3 continents for 8 years, no definite conclusion has been reached.
ANCIENT DNA STUDY
The last of the studies on the source of the epidemic was published in the journal Nature. “We have succeeded in ending the age-old debate about the origin of the Black Death,” said Philip Slavin, a scientist at the University of Stirling in Scotland, who was part of the research team.
Scottish scientist Slavin said that they found a clue in a study dated 1890 in which sudden deaths in the north of Kyrgyzstan in 1338-39 were described. Following the narrative about 7-8 years before the Black Plague, Slavin set up a team of experts studying ancient DNA and went to the region.
TEETH OF 8 PEOPLE REACHED
Researcher Maria Spyrou from Tuebingen University, who is part of the team, said that they managed to reach the teeth of 8 people buried in the region. Spyrou stated that since the teeth contain many blood vessels, there is a high chance of detecting blood-borne pathogens that can cause death.
According to the news in Euronews Turkish, after the researchers uncovered the DNA sequence, they compared the result with a database of thousands of microbial genomes. Researcher Spyrou announced that they came across Yersinia pestis, known as the black plague, as a result of DNA analysis. Michael Knapp from the University of Otago, New Zealand, who was not part of the research team, stated that the study was carried out on a small sample and noted that it had “inevitable limits”.
PLASE AND ITS TREATMENT
Plague is a disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which is found in mammals such as woodchuck and can be transmitted from animals to humans. Bubonic plague is the most common form of the disease and is caused by the bite of an infected flea. Bubonic plague, which is one of the three forms that causes black plague, manifests itself with swelling of the lymph nodes, pain, high fever, chills and cough, following an incubation period of 2-8 days after entering the body. Bubonic plague, also known as black plague or black death, is 90 percent fatal if not treated promptly with antibiotics when the first symptoms appear. The bubonic plague, also known as the “Black Death”, is known to have killed 50 million people in Europe in the Middle Ages. (CnnTurk)