Ancient Skeleton Shows Proof of Tuberculosis
Posted on: Wednesday, 15 October 2008, 15:55 CDT
An international team of researchers reported Wednesday the discovery of tuberculosis in a 9,000-year-old human skeleton found off the coast of Israel.
The finding provides evidence that the disease is at least 3,000 years older than previously believed, and shows how tuberculosis has evolved over time.
It also sheds light on how the disease may change in the future, the scientists said.
"Examining ancient human remains for the markers of TB is very important because it helps to aid our understanding of prehistoric tuberculosis and how it evolved," Mark Spigelman of University College, London, who participated in the study, told Reuters.
"This then helps us improve our understanding of modern TB and how we might develop more effective treatments."
Tuberculosis is an infectious bacterial disease that is typically found in the lungs. Approximately 9.2 million people a year are newly infected, with an estimated 1.7 million annual deaths worldwide. The emergence of drug-resistant strains could complicate treatment of the disease, and make infections even deadlier.
The international team, which also included scientists from Tel Aviv University in Israel, discovered the skeletons submerged off the coast of Haifa. They are believed to be those of a mother and baby.
DNA analysis and bone lesions indicative of tuberculosis showed that bones from a 9,000 year-old Pre-Pottery Neolithic village, located in a place that is now submerged, were infected with the disease.
Additional testing showed the strain was a type occurring only in humans, and was similar to prevalent bacteria infecting people with tuberculosis today.
Prior to the discovery, the oldest confirmed human strain of tuberculosis dated back to around 3,000 BC among a group of Egyptians, said Helen Donoghue, a University College, London, researcher who took part in the study.
"We can tell that it was human because it was missing part of its DNA that is characteristic of the human lineage," she told Reuters.
"The strain we have found as far as we can tell is identical to some of the bacteria that are going around and infecting people today," she added.
The study was published in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS One.
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Image Caption: Tubercular decay has been found in the spines of Egyptian mummies. Pictured: Egyptian mummy in the British Museum. Courtesy Wikipedia
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Source: redOrbit Staff & Wire Reports
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