Editing Black Death (section)

==Previous plague epidemics==
{{Main|Plague (disease)|First plague pandemic}}
[[File:Yersinia pestis fluorescent.jpeg|thumb|''[[Yersinia pestis]]'' (200 × magnification), the bacterium that causes plague<ref>{{cite web|title=Plague Backgrounder|url=http://www.avma.org/public_health/biosecurity/plague_bgnd.asp|publisher=Avma.org|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080516012329/http://www.avma.org/public_health/biosecurity/plague_bgnd.asp|archive-date=16 May 2008|access-date=3 November 2008}}</ref>]]

Research from 2017 suggests plague first infected humans in Europe and Asia in the [[Late Neolithic]]-[[Early Bronze Age]].{{sfn|Andrades Valtueña|Mittnik|Key|Haak|2017}} Research in 2018 found evidence of ''[[Yersinia pestis]]'' in an ancient Swedish tomb, which may have been associated with the "[[Neolithic decline]]" around 3000 BCE, in which European populations fell significantly.<ref>Zhang, Sarah, "[https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/12/4900-year-old-case-plague-sweden/577315/ An Ancient Case of the Plague Could Rewrite History] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191113183612/https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/12/4900-year-old-case-plague-sweden/577315/ |date=13 November 2019 }}", ''The Atlantic'', 6 December 2018</ref>{{sfn|Rascovan|Sjögren|Kristiansen|Nielsen|2019}} This ''Y. pestis'' may have been different from more modern types, with bubonic plague transmissible by fleas first known from Bronze Age remains near [[Samara]].{{sfn|Spyrou|Tukhbatova|Wang|Valtueña|2018}}

The symptoms of bubonic plague are first attested in a [[literary fragment|fragment]] of [[Rufus of Ephesus]] preserved by [[Oribasius]]; these ancient medical authorities suggest bubonic plague had appeared in the [[Roman Empire]] before the reign of [[Trajan]], six centuries before arriving at [[Pelusium]] in the reign of [[Justinian I]].{{sfn|Green|2015|pages=31ff}} In 2013, researchers confirmed earlier speculation that the cause of the [[Plague of Justinian]] (541–549 CE, with recurrences until 750) was ''Y''. ''pestis''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://phys.org/news/2013-05-modern-lab-ages-plague-dna.html |title=Modern lab reaches across the ages to resolve plague DNA debate |publisher=phys.org |date=20 May 2013 |access-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190727034311/https://phys.org/news/2013-05-modern-lab-ages-plague-dna.html |archive-date=27 July 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/01/28/plague-dna-found-in-ancient-teeth-shows-medieval-black-death-1500-year-pandemic-caused-by-same-disease/ |title=Plague DNA found in ancient teeth shows medieval Black Death, 1,500-year pandemic caused by same disease |work=National Post |date=28 January 2014 | vauthors = Cheng M |access-date=22 March 2020 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20140129115824/http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/01/28/plague-dna-found-in-ancient-teeth-shows-medieval-black-death-1500-year-pandemic-caused-by-same-disease/ |archive-date=29 January 2014 |url-status=live }}</ref> This is known as the [[first plague pandemic]]. In 610, the Chinese physician [[Chao Yuanfang]] described a "malignant bubo" "coming in abruptly with high fever together with the appearance of a bundle of nodes beneath the tissue."<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KjLHAOE7irsC&pg=PA41|isbn=9781843832140|title=The Black Death, 1346-1353: The Complete History|year=2006|publisher=Boydell Press|access-date=18 March 2023|archive-date=26 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164814/https://books.google.com/books?id=KjLHAOE7irsC&pg=PA41|url-status=live}}</ref> The Chinese physician Sun Simo who died in 652 also mentioned a "malignant bubo" and plague that was common in [[Lingnan]] ([[Guangzhou]]). Ole Jørgen Benedictow believes that this indicates it was an offshoot of the first plague pandemic which made its way eastward to Chinese territory by around 600.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HkI3EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 |title=The Complete History of the Black Death |year=2021 |publisher=Boydell & Brewer |isbn=9781783275168 |access-date=18 March 2023 |archive-date=26 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326164814/https://books.google.com/books?id=HkI3EAAAQBAJ&pg=PA130 |url-status=live }}</ref>