古尸曝出惊人秘密 黑死病DNA仍存在?

DNA taken from the skeletons of plague victims in medieval London has unearthed a shocking revelation – the Black Death is still present today. 从中世纪伦敦瘟疫受害者的尸骨上提取出的DNA揭示了一个震惊世人的消息—黑死病现在仍然存在。

Bodies of victims show that part of the same sequence of genes still exists, hundreds of years later.

也就是说，这些受害者的尸体上发现的基因，百年之后依旧毫无变化。

The Black Death claimed the lives of one-third of Europe's population in just five years from 1348 to 1353.

黑死病在1348年到1353年这短短的五年时间里夺去了欧洲大陆近三分之一的人口。

Filthy living conditions in 14th Britain have been blamed for allowing the Black Death to spread. It remains one of the most destructive pandemics in history which peaked in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Experts say it reduced the world's population from an estimated 450 million to almost 350 million in 1400. In 1603 the killer plague returned and killed 38,000 Londoners.

14世纪英国恶劣的居住环境被认为是造成黑死病传播的主要原因。它是史上破坏性最大的流行病之一，在1348到1350年之间的欧洲达到顶峰。专家称黑死病导致世界人口从四亿五千万左右骤降至1400年的三亿五千万。在1603年，黑死病又卷土重来并且夺去了三万八千伦敦人的性命。

Scientists have now confirmed that Yersinia pestis which is known to cause cases of the plague today was also responsible for the brutally damaging bubonic plague which almost wiped out Europe.

经科学家证实，曾经引起瘟疫的耶尔森使鼠疫杆菌也是导致横扫欧洲的黑死病的重要原因。

Previously, tests which showed presence of the bacteria in medieval samples had been ignored because it was assumed they were contaminated and because the modern day bug spreads much more slowly and is far less deadly.

早些的时候，测试已经证明在中世纪的样品中存在着细菌被忽视的情况,意识因为细菌被认为受到了污染,二是因为虫子传播的更为缓慢,也并不会致命。

Now researchers at the University of Tübingen's Institute of Scientific Archaeology and McMaster University in Canada it was responsible for deaths.

在杜宾根大学的考古学院和加拿大麦克马司特大学的研究人员都认为细菌应该是导致死亡的最主要的原因。

The results of the research have now been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

据悉，研究的结果已经刊登在《美国国家科学院院刊》上。

Report author Johannes Krause says that ‘without a doubt’ the plague pathogen known as versinia pestis was also the cause of the Middle Ages’ plague.

研究报告的撰写者约翰·克劳斯说,“毫无疑问的，瘟疫病原体，可以被称作耶尔森使鼠疫杆菌，也是引起中世纪的瘟疫的原因。

The symptoms of the Black Death were revolting with historians noting descriptions of fever, muscle spasms, coughing up blood and black blood oozing out of swelling lymph nodes.

黑死病的症状在历史学家的描述下十分的恶心，像发烧,肌肉痉挛,咳血和从肿胀的淋巴结中流出黑血。

Earlier this month, rats - which were long thought to be the carriers of the plague - were ruled out as the main cause.

这个月的早些时候，一度被认为是瘟疫载体的老鼠被排除出主要原因。

The most commonly noted symptom was the appearance of swollen lymph nodes on the groin, the neck and armpits, which often wept with pus and blood when they burst.

最常见的症状是出现在腹股沟，颈和腋窝的淋巴结肿胀,一旦破裂，就会流脓或出血。