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Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44318988/ns/health-infectious_diseases/
'Black Death' bacteria likely extinct, study finds
By Joseph Brownstein
updated 1 hour 35 minutes ago 2011-08-29T21:15:11
The bacteria that caused the Black Death, which wiped out millions in mid-14th century Europe, may be extinct, according to a new study.
Hoping to resolve some controversy regarding the cause of the Black Death, researchers examined more than 100 samples taken from bodies buried in London during that time.
"The Black Death was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis ? the one responsible for current plague outbreaks. This settles the controversy surrounding the causative agent. Although we cannot rule out, at this stage, that there was another co-circulating strain," said study author Hendrik Poinar, a biological anthropologist at McMaster University in Ontario.
However, the genetic sequence of the bacteria in the London bodies differed from the sequences of modern versions of Y. pestis, suggesting that the strain responsible for the Black Death is likely extinct, the researchers said.
Plague genes
The bubonic plague, which is the infection that spread during the Black Death pandemic, persists in the world today...
'Black Death' bacteria likely extinct, study finds
By Joseph Brownstein
updated 1 hour 35 minutes ago 2011-08-29T21:15:11
The bacteria that caused the Black Death, which wiped out millions in mid-14th century Europe, may be extinct, according to a new study.
Hoping to resolve some controversy regarding the cause of the Black Death, researchers examined more than 100 samples taken from bodies buried in London during that time.
"The Black Death was caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis ? the one responsible for current plague outbreaks. This settles the controversy surrounding the causative agent. Although we cannot rule out, at this stage, that there was another co-circulating strain," said study author Hendrik Poinar, a biological anthropologist at McMaster University in Ontario.
However, the genetic sequence of the bacteria in the London bodies differed from the sequences of modern versions of Y. pestis, suggesting that the strain responsible for the Black Death is likely extinct, the researchers said.
Plague genes
The bubonic plague, which is the infection that spread during the Black Death pandemic, persists in the world today...