Population Collapse in Ancient Siberia Likely Caused by Plague, Study Says

It reportedly remains unclear exactly how the plague-inducing bacteria made its way to Siberia, or how much damage it caused there.

The introduction of a bacteria that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, in Siberia thousands of years ago might have dealt a blow to the population of the region back then, Science news reports, citing a new study published in Science Advances on 6 January.

The study, conducted by a team led by two evolutionary geneticists from Stockholm University, Gulşah Merve Kilinç and Anders Gotherstrom, involved the extraction of DNA from skeletal remains previously discovered in Eastern Siberia.

The researchers further established that genetic diversity in the samples they’ve studied witnessed a decline around from around 4,700 to 4,400 years ago, “possibly the result of population collapse”, as the media outlet points out.

Gotherstrom, however, pointed out that it is still unclear how the bacteria that they’ve discovered made its way to Siberia, or whether it actually caused “widespread infections and death” there.

He further noted that genetic data from only two individuals is simply insufficient to confirm whether they were carrying a virulent strain of the bacteria.

Sourse: sputniknews.com