5,000-year-old man was ‘oldest plague victim’
Scientists have identified a new contender for “patient zero” in the plague that caused the Black Death. A man who died more than 5,000 years ago in Latvia was infected with the earliest-known strain of the disease, according to new evidence.
The plague swept through Europe in the 1300s, wiping out as much as half of the population.
Later waves continued to strike regularly over several centuries, causing millions of deaths.
“Up to now this is the oldest-identified plague victim we have,” Dr Ben Krause-Kyora of the University of Kiel in Germany said of the 5,300-year-old remains.
The man was buried with three others at a Neolithic burial site in Latvia by the side of the River Salac, which flows into the Baltic Sea.
Image: Harald Lubke, ZBSA, Schloss Gottorf
The researchers sequenced DNA from the bones and teeth of all four individuals, and tested them for bacteria and viruses.
They were surprised to find one hunter-gatherer – a man in his twenties – was infected with an ancient strain of plague, caused by the bacterium, Yersinia pestis.
“He most likely was bitten by a rodent, got the primary infection of Yersinia pestis and died a couple of days [later] – maybe a week later – from the septic shock,” said Dr Krause-Kyora.
The researchers suggest the ancient strain emerged about 7,000 years ago, when agriculture was starting to appear in central Europe.
They think the bacterium may have leaped sporadically from animals to humans without causing large outbreaks.
Over time, it became adapted to infecting humans, eventually evolving into the form known as bubonic plague, that is spread by fleas and raged through medieval Europe, causing millions of deaths.
The idea that early strains of plague were slow to spread challenges many theories about the development of human civilisation in Europe and Asia.
And it casts doubt on the hypothesis that the disease caused large population declines in Western Europe at the end of the Neolithic Age.
Other researchers have welcomed the study, but say it does not rule out the possibility that plague was spreading widely in Europe at this time.
Humans usually get plague after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague.
The disease is still around today, but is treatable with antibiotics if caught early.
See more here: bbc.co.uk
Header image: Dominik Goldner, BGAEU, Berlin
Please Donate Below To Support Our Ongoing Work To Defend The Scientific Method
PRINCIPIA SCIENTIFIC INTERNATIONAL, legally registered in the UK as a company 
incorporated for charitable purposes. Head Office: 27 Old Gloucester Street, London WC1N 3AX.
Trackback from your site.
Jurg Gassmann
| #
Goodness – immediately suspend all travel to and from Latvia!
Reply
Mark Tapley
| #
This article reinforces the germ theory by indicating the presence of a particular bacteria in the victim. If this bacteria caused the disease then it should be transmissible to another host and cause an infection. So far this has not been shown to occur. Everyone was taught that Pasteur proved pathogenic transmission long ago and that these outside “:diseases: were easily transmitted form one host to another. In his diary finally published it is revealed he was lying and that the only thin he transmitted were toxins, usually arsenic or mercury.
Since the time of the medical con man Pasteur, pathogenic transmission has been attempted many times. All attempts failed. It is also peculiar that some areas had the plague and some did not. There is little doubt that unsanitary conditions inducing rodent infestation provided optimum conditions for disease but the bacteria may have been just a consequence of some toxic influence that caused the problem first. That is why it is reported that Pasteur later admitted tha t”the germ is nothing, the terrain is everything.”
In her book “Dissolving Illusions” Dr. Suzanne Humphries MD uses public records to show that all of the so called infectious disease for which the so called vaccines are given had practically disappeared after the introduction of good nutrition and proper sanitation. The famous nurse Florence Nightingale who must have tended to thousands of wounded and sick over many years said that often a individuals would come down with one of these so called communicable diseases when there had been no cases anywhere around.
This all brings up the issue of viruses which have never even been shown to exist but are just cellular debris and protein particles. Microbiologist Stephan Lanka has a 1.5 million euro prize posted for anyone who can prove to the German court that viruses exist. The allopathic germ theory has driven the multi billion dollar vaccine industry and big Pharma and used to condition the herd with a campaign of medical fraud using fake viruses, fake numbers, fake tests and more blood toxin injections.
https://www.bitchute.com/video/IUeN85XletNM/
https://rumble.com/vauahd-100-proof-covid-19-was-planned-years-in-advance-truthiverse-episode-14-with.html
Reply
Tom
| #
Interesting. We know this guy had a virus 5,000 years ago and yet today we don’t have any accurate, meaningful and useful testing for Covid. Maybe we should ask this guy from yesteryear.
Reply