Lethal bacteria, Yersinia Pestis, that produce the Black Death plague have been found lurking from underground and underground waters from all over the world and may produce a severe risk for the whole humanity. The same bacteria were the culprits for the death of approximately 150 million Europeans during the Black Death plague pandemic, in the 14th century, and, recently, of more than 200 Madagascans, in 2017.
Even more, in 2015, 4 deaths related to this bacteria have been recorded in the US, out of a total of 16 cases.
The study has met its goals but many questions remained unanswered
The newest discoveries, issued in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, are meant to describe the process of the swift plague spreads in specific regions of the globe.
The recent study’s lead author, the Colorado State University researcher, David Markman, admitted that this plague produced by the recently discovered bacteria is endemic in the majority of the world’s regions but the disease’s roots are not yet completely known.
“The interesting and troubling part of plague and part of the reason why there are so many unanswered questions is that it is present in many different environments – from the jungle to the desert and everywhere in between. It’s difficult to find one mechanism that unites all these different locations which explain when, where and why plague breaks out when it does,” admitted David Markman.
Amoebae are the perfect hosts for the plague bacteria
The science team took some ground probes to prove their assumptions. The probes were sampled from the northeastern Colorado prairie dogs lairs which have been proved for a long time ago to be plague hosts.
The researchers isolated five varieties of amoebae and then infected them with the bacteria known to cause the plague. The purpose was to observe how the amoebae react and how the plague bacteria develop inside them.
The team was able to conclude that Black Death plague bacteria are living and multiplying without any issue inside the amoebae.
