Institute of Clinical Molecular Biology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany.
Department of Genetics, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA.
Commun Biol. 2024 Aug 18;7(1):1013. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06676-7.
Yersinia pestis has been infecting humans since the Late Neolithic (LN). Whether those early infections were isolated zoonoses or initiators of a pandemic remains unclear. We report Y. pestis infections in two individuals (of 133) from the LN necropolis at Warburg (Germany, 5300-4900 cal BP). Our analyses show that the two genomes belong to distinct strains and reflect independent infection events. All LN genomes known today (n = 4) are basal in the phylogeny and represent separate lineages that probably originated in different animal hosts. In the LN, an opening of the landscape resulted in the introduction of new rodent species, which may have acted as Y. pestis reservoirs. Coincidentally, the number of dogs increased, possibly leading to Y. pestis infections in canines. Indeed, we detect Y. pestis in an LN dog. Collectively, our data suggest that Y. pestis frequently entered human settlements at the time without causing significant outbreaks.
鼠疫耶尔森菌自晚全新世（LN）以来就一直在感染人类。这些早期感染是孤立的动物传染病还是大流行的起源尚不清楚。我们报告了来自德国瓦尔堡（Warburg）LN 墓地（5300-4900 cal BP）的两名个体（共 133 人）的鼠疫耶尔森菌感染。我们的分析表明，这两个基因组属于不同的菌株，反映了独立的感染事件。今天已知的所有 LN 基因组（n=4）在系统发育中处于基础地位，代表了可能起源于不同动物宿主的不同谱系。在 LN 时期，景观的开放导致了新的啮齿动物物种的引入，这些物种可能成为鼠疫耶尔森菌的宿主。巧合的是，狗的数量增加，可能导致犬类感染鼠疫耶尔森菌。事实上，我们在 LN 时期的一只狗中检测到了鼠疫耶尔森菌。总的来说，我们的数据表明，鼠疫耶尔森菌在当时经常进入人类住区，但没有引起重大疫情。
