Sep 20, 2020 18:00:00

The dogma that 'Columbus brought syphilis to Europe' may have been wrong

It is said that

syphilis , known as a sexually transmitted disease, spread rapidly in Europe in the 15th century, and it was Columbus , a Spanish explorer who discovered the Americas, who brought Treponema pallidum, which causes syphilis, to Europe. It is a well-established theory. However, DNA found in the bodies of infected individuals at the time revealed that this dogma was likely to have been false.

Ancient Bacterial Genomes Reveal a High Diversity of Treponema pallidum Strains in Early Modern Europe: Current Biology
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982220310836

Medieval DNA suggests Columbus didn't trigger syphilis epidemic in Europe | Science | AAAS
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/08/medieval-dna-suggests-columbus-didn-t-trigger-syphilis-epidemic-europe

The first recorded epidemic of syphilis in Europe was in 1495, when syphilis spread among French troops surrounding Naples, Italy, quickly spread throughout Europe, killing as many as 5 million people, according to one theory. Is said to have been issued. Three years before this syphilis pandemic, Columbus returned from the United States to Spain.

It is said that syphilis was widespread among Native Americans even before Columbus discovered the Americas, and the remains of Native Americans who died before the arrival of Columbus had bone lesions, which is a symptom of syphilis. Also exists. Therefore, the theory that 'it was the Columbus expedition that brought the pathogen of syphilis from the Americas to Europe' was considered to be promising.

The research team investigated nine remains suspected of being infected with syphilis at the same time from archaeological sites in Finland, Estonia, and the Netherlands. The sample was ground and analyzed for the DNA of Treponema pallidum.

The research team succeeded in recovering treponema DNA from four samples. The sequence was compared to the DNA of a modern Treponema pallidum strain, and the strain was dated using

molecular clock technology.

Johannes Klaus, a member of the research team and archaeologist at the Max Planck Institute for Human History, said, 'Bacteria are quite difficult to analyze because they are present in very small quantities and decompose rapidly. Five years ago. If so, everyone would have said that analysis was impossible. '

As a result of the analysis, it was found that the strains collected from the ashes are diverse, including those that exist only in the tropics in modern times and those that do not exist in modern times. In addition, it was revealed that some of the strains collected from the ashes were limited to the early to mid-1400s. The researchers report that this is strong evidence that syphilis may have existed in Europe before Columbus came into contact with the Americas.

Klaus points out that the diversity of strains collected from the remains of Columbus's return at the end of the 15th century is most likely due to the spread of Treponema pallidum to Europe at that time. 'Either Columbus brought in a variety of Treponema pallidum, or the Treponema pallidum entered Europe before Columbus returned and gained diversity,' Klaus argues.

Meanwhile, Molly Zuckerman, a bioarchaeologist at Mississippi State University and a researcher at Ancient Treponema, said, 'It depends on the accuracy of the strain's dating, so the theory that Columbus brought it in was not completely denied. I think it is subtle whether the myth has been overturned.

Klaus also commented that he wanted to make the dating accuracy of the samples more accurate. The next challenge is to identify which Treponema pallidum strain existed before Columbus returned from the Americas by comparing the Treponema DNA of Europe and the Americas at the time and analyzing more samples. It is said.