Depiction of Emperor Justinian I (The Yorck Project) The same “Black Death” that wiped out more than a million people in 14th-century Europe might also have helped usher in the end of the Roman Empire, researchers report in the journal PLOS Pathogens. MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: 6 Deadly Summer Diseases The bacterium Yersinia pestis definitively caused two of the most devastating plagues in recorded history: The 14th-century Black Death and the Modern Plague, which struck Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia...

LONDON - Two respiratory viruses in different parts of the world have captured the attention of global health officials — a novel coronavirus in the Middle East and a new bird flu spreading in China. (MORE: Natural Disasters Uproot Millions) Last week, the coronavirus related to SARS spread to France, where one patient who probably caught the disease in Dubai infected his hospital roommate. Officials are now trying to track down everyone who went on a tour group holiday to...

A vaccine for Lyme disease could be on the way, following a successful phase 1/2 clinical trial, researchers from the Stony Brook University School of Medicine and Brookhaven National Laboratory reported in the online journal The Lancet Infectious Diseases. MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: 6 Deadly Summer Diseases In the trial, the vaccine was well tolerated by 300 people, who received three primary immunizations and one booster shot. Participants demonstrated only mild adverse reactions to the vaccine. No vaccine-related serious health events...

A 14th-century burial ground that was recently uncovered in central London is believed to contain victims of the Black Death Plague. (Crossrail) Deep beneath the earth in the city of London, archaeologists recently uncovered evidence of a 14th-century burial ground, believed to contain individuals killed by the Black Death Plague. MORE FROM WEATHER.COM: 6 Deadly Summer Diseases In total, 13 skeletons were uncovered on the edge of Charterhouse Square at Farringdon, an area in central London that has amazingly remained...

Summer swimsuit season is just around the corner, and we have bad news: Many of the most popular meals at your favorite restaurants contain more calories per dish than you should eat in an entire day, a new Tufts University analysis published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found. In the study, researchers analyzed 157 full meals, including side dishes, from 33 individual or small-chain restaurants in the Boston area. Using the bomb calorimetry method, they calculated calorie counts for...

Heat and humidity might keep some Southerners inside on the couch instead of outside jogging around the block. But more likely, it’s a lack of peer pressure that stops many residents of Southern cities from breaking a sweat, Jeffrey Hallam, PhD, told Men’s Health magazine, after seeing the publication’s pick for the least-active city in the United States. (Spoiler alert: It’s in the South.) "In Portland, Oregon, [the best city for exercise], many people bicycle or walk everywhere, and there...

Elephant seals are seen on the Piedras Blancas' beach, near Carmel, California on December 25, 2006. (GABRIEL BOUYS/AFP/Getty Images) DAVIS, Calif. -- Researchers have detected swine flu in elephant seals off the Central California coast, saying it was the first time a human pandemic strain has been found in marine mammals. However, none of the animals showed clinical signs of the illness. A University of California, Davis study found the seals contracted the H1N1 virus in 2010, as the pandemic...

Three people in Saudi Arabia have died from a deadly new respiratory virus, bringing the total global death toll to 30, according to Saudi health officials. The World Health Organization recently dubbed the disease MERS for “Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus.” Previous news reports have largely referred to the disease as simply coronavirus. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health said that the three victims, who were hospitalized a month ago, all had chronic diseases, including kidney failure, the Associated Press reports....

What began as a fun day outdoors ended with the fight of Aimee Copeland's life. Copeland, 24, waszipliningwith friends last May when she cut herself after an equipment malfunction. Through her wound, she contractednecrotizingfasciitis, or flesh-eating bacteria, which caused the failure of her five major organs and the eventually amputation of her left leg, her right foot and both hands. (MORE:DeadlySARS-LikeDisease Kills Three More) A year after her injury, Copeland received the latest prosthetic technology – bionic hands that cost...

One-third of the world’s population is infected with tuberculosis, an infectious disease that kills more than 1.4 million people each year, according to the World Health Organization. Most won’t ever get sick from the germ, but if something lowers their immunity (like HIV), the infection can wreak havoc on the lungs, kidneys, spine, brain and other parts of the body. Although TB rates in the United States have been declining for the past 20 years – they’re now at the...

A researcher works on a mosquito stock cage in a mosquito laboratory at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in London, Thursday, May 30, 2013. (AP Photo/Sang Tan) LONDON -- For decades, health officials have battled malaria with insecticides, bed nets and drugs. Now, scientists say there might be a potent new tool to fight the deadly mosquito-borne disease: the stench of human feet. In a laboratory study, researchers found that mosquitoes infected with the tropical disease were...

Here, a test subject at Canfield Scientific sits for a VISIA® Complexion Analysis System scan, which compares the skin as it appears in normal lighting to ultraviolet and digitally processed images that show subsurface spots and skin damage. (Canfield Imaging Systems) No more excuses: It’s time to lather on the sunscreen for the summer season. If nothing else, do it for your looks: Regular sunscreen use can reduce signs of aging, including wrinkles, keeping you looking younger, longer, according to...