Editing Plague of Justinian (section)

=== Genetics of the Justinian plague strain ===
The plague of Justinian is generally regarded as the first historically recorded epidemic of ''[[Yersinia pestis]]''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Russell|first=Josiah C.|year=1968|title=That earlier plague|journal=[[Demography (journal)|Demography]]|location=Ashburn, Virginia|publisher=[[Springer (publisher)|Springer]]|volume=5|pages=174–184|doi=10.1007/bf03208570|s2cid=46979303|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Justinian's Plague (541-542 CE)|encyclopedia=[[World History Encyclopedia]] |url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/782/justinians-plague-541-542-ce/}}</ref> This conclusion is based on historical descriptions of the clinical manifestations of the disease<ref>Procopius, History of the Wars, 7 Vols., trans. H. B. Dewing, Loeb Library of the Greek and Roman Classics, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1914), Vol. I, pp. 451–473.</ref> and the detection of ''Y. pestis'' [[DNA]] from human remains at ancient grave sites dated to that period.<ref>Wiechmann I, Grupe G. Detection of Yersinia pestis DNA in two early medieval skeletal finds from Aschheim (Upper Bavaria, 6th century A.D.)" ''Am J Phys Anthropol'' 2005 Jan;126(1) 48–55</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Harbeck |first1=Michaela |last2=Seifert |first2=Lisa |last3=Hänsch |first3=Stephanie |last4=Wagner |first4=David M. |last5=Birdsell |first5=Dawn |last6=Parise |first6=Katy L. |last7=Wiechmann |first7=Ingrid |last8=Grupe |first8=Gisela |last9=Thomas |first9=Astrid |last10=Keim |first10=P |last11=Zöller |first11=L |year=2013 |editor1-last=Besansky |editor1-first=Nora J |editor-link=Nora J. Besansky |title=''Yersinia pestis'' DNA from Skeletal Remains from the 6th Century AD Reveals Insights into Justinianic Plague |journal=PLOS Pathogens |volume=9 |issue=5 |pages=e1003349 |doi=10.1371/journal.ppat.1003349 |pmc=3642051 |pmid=23658525 |last12=Bramanti |first12=B |last13=Riehm |first13=JM |last14=Scholz |first14=HC |doi-access=free}}</ref>

Genetic studies of modern and ancient ''Yersinia pestis'' DNA suggest that the origin of the Justinian plague was in [[Central Asia]]. The most [[Basal (phylogenetics)|basal]], or root level, existing strains of the ''Yersinia pestis'' as a whole species are found in [[Qinghai]], China.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Morelli|first1=Giovanna|display-authors=etal|date=October 31, 2010|title=''Yersinia pestis'' genome sequencing identifies patterns of global phylogenetic diversity|journal=Nature Genetics|volume=42|issue=12|pages=1140–1143|doi=10.1038/ng.705|pmc=2999892|pmid=21037571}}</ref> Other scholars contest that, rather than Central Asia, the specific strain that composed the Justinian plague began in sub-Saharan Africa, and that the plague was spread to the Mediterranean by merchants from the [[Kingdom of Aksum]] in [[East Africa]]. This point of origin aligns more with the general south–north spread of the disease from Egypt into the rest of the Mediterranean world. It also explains why [[Sasanian Empire|Sassanid]] Persia saw a later development of the outbreak despite stronger trade links with Central Asia.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Yohannes |first=Gebre Selassie |year=2011 |title=Plague as a Possible Factor for the Decline and Collapse of the Aksumite Empire: a New Interpretation |publisher=Mekelle University |location=Tigray, Ethiopia |journal=Ityopis: Northeast African Journal of Social Sciences |volume=1 |pages=36-61 |url=http://www.ityopis.org/Issues-1_files/ITYOPIS-I-Gebre-Selassi.pdf}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=Peter Sarris |chapter=Bubonic Plague in Byzantium: The Evidence of Non-Literary Sources |title=Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541–750 |editor=Lester K. Little |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |pages=119–132, at 121–123}}</ref><ref>{{citation |author=Michael McCormick |chapter=Toward a Molecular History of the Justinianic Pandemic |title=Plague and the End of Antiquity: The Pandemic of 541–750 |editor=Lester K. Little |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2007 |pages=290–312}}, at 303–304.</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=The Justinianic plague: origins and effects |first1=Peter |last1=Sarris |journal=Continuity and Change |date=August 2002 |volume=17 |issue=2 |page=173 |doi=10.1017/S0268416002004137 |s2cid=144954310 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/F48D7B45421836E3F25613CF68EE6F30/S0268416002004137a.pdf/the-justinianic-plague-origins-and-effects.pdf |access-date=2023-12-08}}</ref> After samples of DNA from ''Yersinia pestis'' were isolated from skeletons of Justinian plague victims in Germany,<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Wagner|first1=David M.|display-authors=etal|date=April 2014|title=''Yersinia pestis'' and the Plague of Justinian 541–543 AD: a genomic analysis|journal=The Lancet|volume=14|issue=4|pages=319–326|doi=10.1016/S1473-3099(13)70323-2|pmid=24480148}}</ref> it was found that modern strains currently found in the [[Tian Shan]] mountain range system are most basal known in comparison with the Justinian plague strain.<ref name="Eroshenko" /> Additionally, a skeleton found in Tian Shan dating to around 180 AD and identified as an "early Hun" was found to contain DNA from ''Yersinia pestis'' closely related to the Tian Shan strain basal ancestor of the Justinian plague strain German samples.<ref name="Damgaard" /> This finding suggests that the expansion of nomadic peoples who moved across the [[Eurasian steppe]], such as the [[Xiongnu]] and the later [[Huns]], had a role in spreading plague to West Eurasia from an origin in Central Asia.<ref name="Damgaard" />

Earlier samples of ''Yersinia pestis'' DNA have been found in skeletons dating from 3000 to 800 BC, across West and East Eurasia.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rasmussen |first1=Simon |display-authors=etal |date=October 22, 2015 |title=Early Divergent Strains of Yersinia pestis in Eurasia 5,000 Years Ago |journal=Cell |volume=163 |issue=3 |pages=571–582 |doi=10.1016/j.cell.2015.10.009 |pmc=4644222 |pmid=26496604}}</ref> The strain of ''Yersinia pestis'' responsible for the [[Black Death]], the devastating pandemic of [[bubonic plague]], does not appear to be a direct descendant of the Justinian plague strain. However, the spread of Justinian plague may have caused the [[evolutionary radiation]] that gave rise to the currently extant 0ANT.1 [[clade]] of strains.<ref>{{cite news |last=McGrath |first=Matt |date=12 October 2011 |title=Black Death Genetic Code 'Built' |publisher=[[BBC World Service]] |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-15278366 |access-date=12 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bos |first1=Kirsten |last2=Schuenemann |first2=Verena J. |last3=Golding |first3=G. Brian |last4=Burbano |first4=Hernán A. |last5=Waglechner |first5=Nicholas |last6=Coombes |first6=Brian K. |last7=McPhee |first7=Joseph B. |last8=Dewitte |first8=Sharon N. |last9=Meyer |first9=Matthias |last10=Schmedes |first10=Sarah |last11=Wood |first11=James |date=12 October 2011 |title=A draft genome of ''Yersinia pestis'' from victims of the Black Death |journal=Nature|volume=478|issue=7370|pages=506–510 |bibcode=2011Natur.478..506B |doi=10.1038/nature10549 |pmc=3690193 |pmid=21993626 |last12=Earn |first12=David J. D. |first13=D. Ann |last14=Bauer |first14=Peter |last15=Poinar |first15=Hendrik N. |last16=Krause |first16=Johannes |last13=Herring}}</ref>