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A Deadly Outbreak of Plague, Nearly 5,000 Years Before the Black Death

NY Times · Jun 17, 2026, 3:36 PM · Also reported by 2 other sources

The oldest known cases, discovered among hunter-gatherers in Siberian graves, contradict the theory that the disease once was mild.

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BBC News WW2 soldier's brain buried with body 85 years after his death The Guardian Ancient DNA provides evidence of earliest known plague outbreak

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A Deadly Outbreak of Plague, Nearly 5,000 Years Before the Black Death

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