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Scientists from the Universities of Basel and Zurich have identified the genetic traces of the bacterium Treponema pallidum in the skeletal remains of individuals who passed away in Brazil around 2,000 years ago. This finding represents the most ancient confirmed detection of this bacterium to date.
In 1493, the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus returned to Europe after his famous journey to the Americas.
Genetic Analysis Doesn't Definitively Close the Case of Syphilis' Origin, but Detects Its Cousins in Prehistoric South America – and Redates the Emergence of the Disease
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In contrast to a common theory, new findings suggest Columbus-led expeditions may not have transported syphilis to Europe from the Americas, though they cannot disprove the claim with certainty
Ancient DNA recovered from Brazilian remains shows that syphilis and other treponemal diseases originated some 10,000 years earlier than previously thought