Lethal plague outbreaks in Lake Baikal hunter-gatherers 5,500 years ago
Nature·
- DOI
- 10.1038/s41586-026-10540-5
- PMID
- —
- PMCID
- —
- OpenAlex
- W4404366661
- Study type
- Journal article
- Publisher
- Springer Science and Business Media LLC
- Article type
- journal-article
- Integrity
- current
Why this research matters now
The findings provide historical evidence that lethal plague outbreaks occurred among hunter-gatherer communities before the period described in the abstract as the later emergence of bubonic-plague-associated virulence factors. They also broaden the documented geographic and social contexts in which early plague outbreaks occurred.
Structured evidence summary
Research question
The study examines when lethal plague outbreaks caused by early Yersinia pestis occurred and whether they affected mid-Holocene hunter-gatherer communities before the emergence of strains associated with bubonic plague.
Study design
This is a historical genomic and archaeological investigation of early Yersinia pestis strains associated with human remains from multiple hunter-gatherer cemeteries. The study also uses reconstructed kinship relationships and comparisons of bacterial functional features.
Population and setting
The evidence concerns mid-Holocene hunter-gatherers near Lake Baikal in southeast Siberia, across four cemeteries, with outbreaks dated to approximately 5,500 years ago.
Main findings
Plague infection was detected in 39% of the examined individuals. The reported pattern included small affected familial groups, acute mortality with particular impact among children aged 8 to 11 years, and two outbreak phases. The strains were ancestrally divergent from known Yersinia pestis and place the bacterium's emergence before approximately 5,700 years ago.
Public-health relevance
The findings provide historical evidence that lethal plague outbreaks occurred among hunter-gatherer communities before the period described in the abstract as the later emergence of bubonic-plague-associated virulence factors. They also broaden the documented geographic and social contexts in which early plague outbreaks occurred.
Important limitations
The supplied material does not state study limitations or provide enough methodological detail to assess sampling, preservation, detection, or dating uncertainty. This summary is therefore limited to the supplied single-article abstract and metadata; the original paper is required for decision-grade interpretation.
GIDS interpretation
The article is discoverable under plague, One Health, and outbreak investigation classifications. Its supplied evidence is historical and archaeological; it does not establish or confirm a current surveillance signal.
Related GIDS surveillance
Literature context does not validate, explain, or change a surveillance signal. Exact and contextual relationships are shown separately.
Evidence relationships
This article has 7 auditable classifier relationships to diseases, places, topics, and study design.