• •Researchers discovered Yersinia pestis DNA in human remains at late Stone Age cemeteries in southeastern Siberia.
• •Genetic evidence suggests hunter-gatherer groups were infected by the bacterium approximately 5,500 years ago.
• •Scientists believe the pathogen was likely transmitted from marmots to humans, though the full scale of mortality remains unconfirmed.

Genetic analysis of remains found in Siberian burial sites confirms the earliest known occurrence of the plague. According to a report in The Guardian, the findings suggest the bacterium Yersinia pestis was circulating among hunter-gatherer populations over 5,000 years ago. While evidence points to marmots as the likely source of transmission, the exact transmission mechanics and total death toll are not yet fully understood. This discovery shifts the timeline of the disease's history and indicates that plague-like pathogens may have been a risk to human health long before the rise of dense urban civilizations.