Study of Black Death skeletons reveals plague may have been airborne

An analysis carried out on 25 skeletons of plague victims discovered by railway engineers beneath London last year, has revealed that the Black Death was even more lethal than previously thought. Scientists are now doubtful that the epidemic was spread by the bites of infected fleas living on rats. Instead, it appears that the pathogen mutated into a more virulent strain that was airborne.

The Black Death arrived in Britain from central Asia in the autumn of 1348 and by late spring the following year it had killed six out of every 10 people in London. It was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to 200 million people.

An analysis on the DNA extracted from the 14^th century skeletons unearthed in London revealed traces of Yersinia pestis bacterium, the pathogen responsible for the Black Death, confirming what scientists had suspected – the remains belonged to plague victims who had been hastily buried in a mass grave. Guided by underground radar scans, researchers now plan to expand their search for more victims as it is believed there could be hundreds if not thousands more nearby.