Scientists believe they have discovered the origin of the Black Death, a plague that claimed tens of millions of lives more than 600 years ago in Europe, Asia and North Africa.

In the mid-14th century, a health catastrophe occurred that is considered to be one of the most significant episodes in human history to date.

The plague spread from Asia to Europe, where it is estimated to have killed almost half the population of the then continent, and the origin of the disease remains controversial to this day, despite its deadly form that withdrew from Europe around the turn of the century. 18th.

Despite their advances in technology, scientists have not been able to determine the origin of this dangerous disease, so far.

New analyzes show that the plague began in Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia in the early 1330s.

(Photo: Live Science)

A team of scientists from the University of Stirling in Scotland, the German Max Planck Institute and the University of Tübingen analyzed old DNA samples from skeletal teeth from a cemetery near Lake Issyk Kul in the mountains of northern

.

They chose this site for research after noticing a significant increase in the number of burials in the area between 1338 and 1339.

Maria Spyrou from the University of Tübingen said the team listed the DNA of seven skeletons.

They analyzed the teeth because they contain blood vessels, so there is a high chance of detecting blood-forming pathogens that could have caused death.

They discovered Yersinia pestis, a bacterium that can cause

, in three skeletons - KosovaPress reports.

Philip Slavin, a historian at the University of Stirling, said: "Our study provides an answer to one of the biggest and most interesting questions in history and determines where and when the most notorious killer of people in history started his campaign."

(Photo: BBC)

The research was published in the journal

under the title "The Source of the 14th Century Black Plague in Eurasia."

Plague is a potentially deadly infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which in turn lives on some animals, mainly rodents, as well as fleas on them.

Symptoms of the disease most often include painful and swollen lymph nodes in the groin and armpits.

Between 2010 and 2015, he diagnosed 3,248 plague cases worldwide, including 584 deaths.

The plague was also called Black Death because it causes black gangrene and death of body parts like fingers.