The "Plague Of Justinian" May Have Been The First Pandemic. DNA At A Mass Grave Has Finally Identified Its Cause.

A new study has found direct genetic evidence pointing to the cause of the devastating "Plague of Justinian" first described nearly 1,500 years ago. The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.

Reports of the disease first came around 541 CE in the port of Pelusium in Lower Egypt, before spreading through trade routes around the Byzantine Empire. During a particularly intense outbreak in Constantinople (now Istanbul), Emperor Justinian I, after whom the plague was named, grew ill but later recovered. Residents of the city were not so lucky, with possibly tens of thousands dying over the course of four months. Responding to the sheer number of corpses, Justinian ordered pits to be dug, and when those overflowed, some of the corpse