A recent study has identified the oldest human diseases dating back 37,000 years.

 

A recent study examining diseases that have afflicted humanity over the past 37,000 years, including bacteria, viruses, and parasites, has found that the first evidence of the bacteria that causes plague dates back to around 5,500 years ago.

The results of a study conducted by researchers at British and Danish universities, published in the journal Nature, show that the first evidence of zoonotic diseases—those transmitted from animals to humans—dates back around 6,500 years, and that they began to spread widely around 1,500 years later. This was based on an analysis of DNA extracted from the bones and teeth of 1,313 individuals who lived across Eurasia (Europe and Asia) from the Early Stone Age (approximately 12,500 years ago) to around 200 years ago.

Researchers found traces of diphtheria dating back 11,000 years, hepatitis B dating back 9,800 years, and malaria dating back 4,200 years, in addition to identifying 214 pathogens among humans during prehistoric Eurasia.

In this regard, Professor Eske Willerslev of the Universities of Cambridge and Copenhagen explained that DNA evidence suggests that thousands of years ago, the transition to agriculture and animal husbandry ushered in a new era of disease. These infections not only caused disease but also contributed to the collapse of many societies and triggered various migrations.

Fredrik Seersholm, a researcher at the University of Copenhagen, confirmed that the plague killed between a quarter and half of Europe's population during the Middle Ages. This pandemic, which swept the continent between 1346 and 1353, killed up to 40 percent of the population in some areas.

For her part, Professor Astrid Iversen of Oxford University explained that zoonotic diseases began to spread widely around 5,000 years ago, and that raising animals in large herds and living in close proximity to them increased the chances of infection being transmitted from them to humans.