Plague after the Black Death returned in waves across Europe for centuries, ancient DNA shows

Key Points:

• New research analyzing 75 plague genomes from 14th to 18th century Europe reveals that Yersinia pestis, the bacterium causing plague, returned in repeated waves for over 350 years after the Black Death rather than persisting in a single location.
• The study found shifting plague lineages across Europe, with major expansions around 1450-1500 when Yersinia pestis split into three branches, possibly establishing long-term reservoirs in wild rodent populations influenced by climate factors like the Great Renaissance Drought.
• Researchers developed a novel dating method called Phylogenetically Informed Radiocarbon Modeling (PhIRM) to narrow the dating of ancient plague genomes, enabling more precise links between genetic data and historical plague outbreaks recorded by chroniclers.
• Genetic evidence connects plague spread to human movements during major European conflicts such as the Thirty Years’ War and the Great Northern War, showing armies, refugees, and traders facilitated transmission to new regions.
• The study integrates ancient DNA, archaeology, history, radiocarbon dating, and climate data to provide a detailed timeline of plague's persistence and evolution in Europe, offering insights into epidemic disease dynamics and potential future research directions.