Dear Colleagues,

For centuries, plague has been regarded with biblical terror—"the black Death"—afflicting humans since the Neolithic Age. Much active focus remains on this area, even though the number of human cases is low. In our modern world where boats can rapidly and easily transport rodents and fleas, the dissemination of plague is still a concern. Moreover, climate change can also modify the global distribution of the three fundamental determinants of plague: fleas, rodents and Y. pestis. Yersinia pestis is a complex and interesting pathogen with an ecological life circle that sharply adapts to the vector, rodents, and the environment. The last ten years have brought new insight into the understanding of this pathogen; several phylogroups have been described, and genomes from ancient strains have been fully sequenced. Thus, the role of plasminogen activators in rodent invasion has come to be understood.

In the era of the COVID-19 pandemic, which has brought new insight into disease dissemination, it is time to identify what we know and what remains uncertain about plague. This Special Issue of Pathogens aims to highlight and address scientific knowledge in this area. Original research papers as well as reviews proposing overviews of this "Ancient terror" are welcome. 

Dr. Ronan Jambou
Guest Editor

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• Yersinia pestis
• plague
• Yersinia
• rodent
• genomes