Ancient human bones reveal the oldest known strain of the plague
DNA analysis shows it emerged 7,100 years ago and was less virulent than the Black Death strain
DNA from the jawbone of a 20- to 30-year-old hunter-gatherer, who lived thousands of years ago in what’s now Latvia, revealed a newly identified strain of the plague bacterium Yersinia pestis that originated about 7,100 years ago — the oldest ever found.
Dominik Göldner/BGAEU