The oldest known strain of the plague-causing bacteria Yersinia pestis has been found lurking in the bones and teeth of a man buried thousands of years ago in what is now Latvia.
Genetic analysis suggests the Y. pestis strain that infected the man emerged around 7,100 years ago, researchers report online June 29 in Cell Reports. It usurps the previous record-holder, found in a 5,000-year-old Scandinavian mass grave associated with a possible plague epidemic (SN: 12/6/18). The Latvia man’s bones are also about 5,000 years old, but DNA comparison suggests he contracted a less virulent strain that emerged 1,000 years earlier in Y. pestis history than that found at
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