A quiz question · hard
Modern 2013 DNA analysis at Aschheim confirmed the Plague of Justinian was caused by which pathogen?
Wagner et al. recovered Yersinia pestis DNA from 6th-century Bavarian burials at Aschheim. The First Pandemic strain is a distinct lineage from the 14th-century Black Death strain — both descend from a common Asian-steppe ancestor.
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The First Recorded Bubonic Plague Pandemic in Europe That Killed Up to Half the Population of the Eastern Roman Empire Between 541 and 549 CE The Plague of Justinian reached Constantinople in spring 542 CE from Egypt and Pelusium. Procopius records a peak mortality of about 5,000 deaths per day in Constantinople. Modern genetic analysis of plague burials at Aschheim in Bavaria confirmed in 2013 that the pathogen was Yersinia pestis — the same bacterium that caused the 14th-century Black Death. The empire-wide death toll is estimated at 25-50 percent of population.
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