Bubonic plague hung out in Europe

The plague bacterium Yersinia pestis may have lurked in a medieval European reservoir for at least 300 years, researchers from Germany suggest January 13 in PLOS ONE.

The second of two major plague pandemics hit Europe from the 14th to 17th centuries. The new study weighs in on a long-standing debate over what fed the pandemic: strains of the bacterium traveling along with trade from Asia via the Silk Road or a homegrown biological reservoir such as lice.