Oldest strains of plague were killing people thousands of years before Black Death

New research has found that the plague was already killing humans 5,500 years ago (Picture: Getty Images)

The oldest strains of the plague were already ‘highly lethal’ thousands of years before the Black Death, according to new research.

The Black Death, which peaked between 1347 and 1353, was the most devastating pandemic in human history, leading to the death of up to 50 million people – around half of Europe’s 14th Century population.

Typically, the plague has been associated with rats and crowded medieval cities.

However, according to a new study published in the journal Nature, the disease that swept across Europe during the Middle Ages was already killing humans in small hunter-gatherer communities 5,500 years ago.

A team of researchers analysed ancient DNA from human remains found at four hunter-gatherer cemeterie...