Were sheep in some way responsible for triggering the bubonic plague historically? New research printed in BioRxiv suggests this is a possibility. The remains of a sheep that lived in a Bronze Age human settlement 4,000 years ago were assessed and an ancestor of the bacteria responsible for the Plague was found in its tooth, according to a new scientific report.
Were sheep in some way responsible for triggering the bubonic plague historically? New research printed in BioRxiv suggests this is a possibility.
The remains of a sheep that lived in a Bronze Age human settlement 4,000 years ago were assessed and an ancestor of the bacteria responsible for the Plague was found in its tooth, according to a new scientific report.
In the mid-1300s as many as 50m people in Europe died as a result of the bubonic plague.
The scientists say this discovery highlights the importance of looking at both human and animal remains when researching the history of these diseases.
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