Assessing the origins of the European Plagues following the Black Death: a synthesis of genomic, historical and ecological information
Journal: bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
Year: 2021

Abstract The Second Plague Pandemic started in Europe with the Black Death in 1346 and lasted until the 19 th century. Based on ancient DNA studies, there is a scientific disagreement over whether the bacterium, Yersinia pestis , came into Europe once (Hypothesis 1), or repeatedly over the following four centuries (Hypothesis 2). Here we synthesize the most updated phylogeny together with historical, archeological, evolutionary and ecological information. On the basis of this holistic view, we c