Scientists Trace Origins of โfirst Plague Pandemic to Ancient jordan
JERASH, JORDAN – An โฃinternational team โขof researchers has pinpointed theโฃ likely origin of the first documented plague pandemic, known as the Plague ofโ Justinian, to ancient Jerash, Jordan, rewriting long-held theories about the disease’s โemergence. Genetic analysis of ancient dental remains unearthed in Jerashโ revealed theโ presence of Yersinia pestis, the bacterium responsible for plague, dating backโฃ to the 4th century CEโ -โ centuries earlier than previously confirmed.
The finding,published July 31,2025,in the journal Genes,challenges โขthe prevailing โhypothesis that the plague originated in Egypt. This breakthrough โขoffers โcrucial insights into โthe historical spread of infectious diseases and underscores the enduring connection โbetween global connectivity and pandemic risk. The research team, led by Rays H.Y. Jiang of โคthe Universityโฃ ofโฃ South Florida (USF), analyzed โaโค molar tooth excavated from โa Roman-Byzantine cemetery in Jerash. โข
“We’ve been wrestling with plague for aโ few thousand years, โand people still die โขfrom it today,”โข Jiang said.โข “Like COVID, it continues to evolve, and containment โฃmeasures evidently can’t get rid of it. We โhave to be careful, but the threat willโ never goโค away.”
The Plague of Justinian ravagedโ the Byzantine Empire and Mediterranean world from 541 to 750 CE, causing an estimatedโข 25-50 โmillion deaths. Understanding it’s โorigins is vital not only for โhistorical accuracyโค but also โคfor informing modern pandemic preparedness. The team’s work demonstrates that Y. pestis was circulating inโค the Near East well beforeโข the major outbreaks,potentially establishing aโข reservoirโค for future โpandemics.
Building on this Jerash discovery, theโ researchers are now focusing on samples from Venice,โ Italy, and the Lazaretto Vecchio, a historic quarantine โฃisland and massโ burialโ siteโข fromโค the Black โDeath era. More than 1,200 samples from this site โคare currently housed โขat USF, providing a unique prospectโ to study the interplay โขbetween early public health interventions, pathogen evolution, and societal responses to disease.
The study,titled “Genetic evidence of Yersinia โฃpestis from theโค First Pandemic,” involved researchersโข from USF,Florida Atlantic University,and institutions in Italy. โ
Reference: Swamy R. Adapa, Karen โHendrix, Aditya Upadhyay, Subhajeet Dutta, Andrea vianello, Gregory O’Corry-Crowe, Jorge Monroy, Tatiana Ferrer, Elizabethโฃ Remily-Wood, โGloria C. Ferreira, Michael decker, Robert H. Tykot, Sucheta Tripathy and Rays โฃH. Y. Jiang, 31โฃ July 2025, โค Genes.DOI: 10.3390/genes16080926.