Posted on 01/14/2008 5:31:47 PM PST by Sub-Driver
New study blames Columbus for syphilis spread
By Julie Steenhuysen 13 minutes ago
New genetic evidence supports the theory that Christopher Columbus brought syphilis to Europe from the New World, U.S. researchers said on Monday, reviving a centuries-old debate about the origins of the disease.
They said a genetic analysis of the syphilis family tree reveals that its closest relative was a South American cousin that causes yaws, an infection caused by a sub-species of the same bacteria.
"Some people think it is a really ancient disease that our earliest human ancestors would have had. Other people think it came from the New World," said Kristin Harper, an evolutionary biologist at Emory University in Atlanta.
"What we found is that syphilis or a progenitor came from the New World to the Old World and this happened pretty recently in human history," said Harper, whose study appears in journal Public Library of Science Neglected Tropical Diseases.
She said the study lends credence to the "Columbian theory," which links the first recorded European syphilis epidemic in 1495 to the return of Columbus and his crew.
"When you put together our genetic data with that epidemic in Naples in 1495, that is pretty strong support for the Columbian hypothesis," she said.
Syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacterium Treponema pallidum, starts out as a sore, but progresses to a rash, fever, and eventually can cause blindness, paralysis and dementia.
Most recent evidence of its origins comes from skeletal remains found in both the New World and the Old World. Chronic syphilis can leave telltale lesions on bone. "It has a worm-eaten appearance," Harper said in a telephone interview.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
thanks for the link.
No problem. This strikes me as pretty old news - I’ve been telling people for years that syphylis is a New World disease, but I’m not sure where I learned it (I was glad to see the citation from the 20s confirming that). Odder still, about a month ago I got into an arguement about this very thing. Fourtunately I’d had more to drink, so I won.
A steward, I assume.
yw. I think it’s interesting to see what the facts were before the facts became ‘PC FACTS.’
One of the things that races trade is their special infections. We have only a few indicators of the total effect on human history, or, moe broadly, what they call evolution. How many kinds have been wiped out simply by a disease to which a population was not resistent. Certain, the Mexican population was decimated by disease during the 16th Century.
And the native Americans sent back syphillis.
Looks like a fair exchange to me...
Most interesting.
No. It was the American Indian’s fault. Europeans are owed an apology.
Correct. Gaetan Dugas.
Wrapped in a tobacco leaf, perhaps?
The Syphilis Enigma
(episode from PBS’s “Secrets of the Dead)
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_syphilis/index.html
Strange. I heard this many years ago.
Italian Skeletons Reveal Old World Diseases
Discovery News | 4-13-2004 | Rossella Lorenzi
Posted on 04/13/2004 8:22:18 PM EDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1117092/posts
Origins of Syphilis [It was waiting for Columbus and his crew in the New World]
Archaeology.org | January/February 1997 | Mark Rose
Posted on 10/06/2007 9:04:49 PM EDT by shield
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1907630/posts
Nature 229, 409 (05 February 1971); doi:10.1038/229409a0
Syphilis and Neanderthal Man
D. J. M. WRIGHT
Department of Venereology, Guy’s Hospital Medical School, London SE1
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v229/n5284/abs/229409a0.html
BONE changes in Neanderthal remains which, it has been suggested1, might be caused by rickets are not unlike those seen in certain treponemal diseases, notably congenital syphilis. Examining the Neanderthal collection at the British Museum (Natural History), I noted several features compatible with treponemal disease.
[and, barely related]
Plague returns as deadly threat
Reuters | 15 Jan 2008 | Reuters
Posted on 01/16/2008 6:56:30 AM EST by BGHater
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1954491/posts?page=44
Lead poisoning made Beethoven grumpy
The Chicago Sun-Times | December 7, 2005 | Jim Ritter
Posted on 12/07/2005 7:05:48 PM EST by neverdem
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1536013/posts
Islam Based on Epileptic Prophecies, says Book From Iran-Native Neuropsychologist
ummahnewslinks | 12/11/2006
Posted on 12/12/2006 11:01:11 PM EST by dennisw
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1752648/posts
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Gods |
Cheech and Chong flashback. Thanks Blam. |
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Thanks VOA.
We all know Ronald Reagan was responsible for the spread of AIDS
/s
maybe payback for bringing smallpox to the americas?
Seriously, though, what I have read on the subject is that smallpox devastated indian populations in many cases before they even saw a white man. Far less if any resistance to smallpox in indian populations compared to european populations that had been dealing with it for who knows how long.
Poor Columbus. Whether his crew brought it from the New World to Europe or vice versa, they were the conduit.
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