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Nature2025;643(8073):1011-1019.July 1, 2025Journal Article

The spatiotemporal distribution of human pathogens in ancient Eurasia.

Martin Sikora1, Elisabetta Canteri2, Antonio Fernandez-Guerra3, Nikolay Oskolkov4, Rasmus Ågren5, Lena Hansson6, Evan K Irving-Pease2, Barbara Mühlemann7,8, Sofie Holtsmark Nielsen9, Gabriele Scorrano3,10, Morten E Allentoft3,11, Frederik Valeur Seersholm3, Hannes Schroeder2, Charleen Gaunitz3, Jesper Stenderup3, Lasse Vinner3, Terry C Jones7,8,12, Björn Nystedt13, Karl-Göran Sjögren14, Julian Parkhill15, Lars Fugger16,17,18, Fernando Racimo2, Kristian Kristiansen3,14, Astrid K N Iversen19,20, Eske Willerslev21,22,23
1Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics and The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. martin.sikora@sund.ku.dk.
2Section for Molecular Ecology and Evolution, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
3Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics and The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
4Department of Biology, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
5Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.
6Definitive Healthcare, Gothenburg, Sweden.
7Institute of Virology, Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Berlin Institute of Health, Berlin, Germany.
8German Centre for Infection Research (DZIF), Partner Site Charité, Berlin, Germany.
9Department of Bacteria, Parasites and Fungi, Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
10Center for Molecular Anthropology for the Study of Ancient DNA, Department of Biology, University of Rome 'Tor Vergata', Rome, Italy.
11Trace and Environmental DNA (TrEnD) Laboratory, School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Western Australia, Australia.
12Centre for Pathogen Evolution, Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
13Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, National Bioinformatics Infrastructure Sweden, Science for Life Laboratory, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
14Department of Historical Studies, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
15Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
16Oxford Centre for Neuroinflammation, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
17MRC Human Immunology Unit, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
18Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
19Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics and The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. astrid.iversen@ndcn.ox.ac.uk.
20Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. astrid.iversen@ndcn.ox.ac.uk.
21Centre for Ancient Environmental Genomics and The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, Globe Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. ewillerslev@sund.ku.dk.
22Department of Genetics, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. ewillerslev@sund.ku.dk.
23MARUM Center for Marine Environmental Sciences and Faculty of Geosciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany. ewillerslev@sund.ku.dk.
PubMed PMC DOI PDF

Abstract

Infectious diseases have had devastating effects on human populations throughout history, but important questions about their origins and past dynamics remain1. To create an archaeogenetic-based spatiotemporal map of human pathogens, we screened shotgun-sequencing data from 1,313 ancient humans covering 37,000 years of Eurasian history. We demonstrate the widespread presence of ancient bacterial,…

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