Work

Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in a pre-Columbian Peruvian mummy.

Year: 1994

Type: article

Abstract: The existence of tuberculosis in the pre-Columbian Americas is controversial because the morphology of the lesion is not specific, the organism is culturally nonviable in ancient tissues, and nonpathogenic soil mycobacteria can contaminate buried bodies. We report the recovery of DNA unique to Mycobacterium tuberculosis from a lung lesion of a spontaneously mummified, 1000-year-old adult female body in southern Peru. This provides the most specific evidence possible for the pre-Columbian presence of human tuberculosis in the New World.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.91.6.2091

Authors: W L Salo, A C Aufderheide, J Buikstra, T A Holcomb

Institution: University of Minnesota, Duluth

Language: English

Topic: Paleopathology and ancient diseases

Subfield: Archeology (arts and humanities)

Field: Arts and Humanities

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, University of Minnesota