All articles tagged with #treponema
Researchers studying noma in Nigerian children identified elevated levels of a previously unknown Treponema bacterium, Treponema A, suggesting this bacteria may contribute to noma’s mouth and facial destruction and could become a target for prophylactic antibiotics to halt progression.
Ancient DNA from a 5,500-year-old skeleton in Colombia reveals an early-diverging Treponema pallidum lineage, suggesting treponemal diseases originated in the Americas long before European contact and estimating the split from other lineages around 13,700 years ago.
Researchers have discovered the oldest case of a syphilis-like disease in 2,000-year-old bones found in Brazil, undermining the theory that Christopher Columbus brought syphilis to Europe. The ancient bacterial subspecies of syphilis, closely related to a modern pathogen causing a disease called bejel, suggests that treponemal diseases existed in South America long before Columbus' arrival but were not the same as the venereal disease that later struck Europe. The findings challenge the long-held Columbian hypothesis and indicate that the origins of syphilis may not be confined to just one place or time.