A new study suggests that our ancestors’ close cohabitation with domesticated animals and large-scale migrations played a key role in the spread of infectious diseases.
The team, led by Professor Eske Willerslev at the Universities of Cambridge and Copenhagen, recovered ancient DNA from 214 known human pathogens in prehistoric humans from Eurasia.
They found that the earliest evidence of zoonotic diseases – illnesses transmitted from animals to humans, like COVID in recent times – dates back to around 6,500 years ago, with these diseases becoming more widespread approximately 5,000 years ago.
The study detected the world’s oldest genetic trace of the plague bacterium, Yersinia pestis, in a 5,500-year-old sample. The plague is estimated to have killed between one-quarter and one-half of Europe’s population during the Middle Ages.
In addition, the researchers found traces of many other diseases including:
Malaria (Plasmodium vivax) – 4,200 years ago
Leprosy (Mycobacterium leprae) – 1,400 years ago
Hepatitis B virus – 9,800 years ago
Diphtheria (Corynebacterium diphtheriae) – 11,100 years ago
This is the largest study to date on the history of infectious diseases and is published today in the journal Nature.
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