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health18h ago
A Bolivian Mummy's Tooth Is Rewriting The History of Scarlet Fever
- Ancient DNA from a Bolivian mummy shows scarlet fever bacteria in a tooth dating to 1283–1383 CE.
- Findings imply scarlet fever circulated in pre-Columbian Americas, before European contact.
- The ancient strain appears related to modern throat-infection variants of the bacterium.
- Researchers say they could reconstruct parts of the genome despite degraded DNA.
- The study challenges the idea that S. pyogenes arrived in the Americas only via colonists.
- Core virulence genes were found in the ancient bacterial strain.
- The Nature Communications study underscores potential insights for future treatments.
- Researchers note the DNA evidence is highly fragmented but still informative.
- The study was published in Nature Communications, signaling peer-reviewed validation.
- Overall, findings broaden understanding of ancient pathogen distribution and human migrations.
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