{"id":576,"date":"2012-01-31T21:16:27","date_gmt":"2012-01-31T21:16:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/?p=576"},"modified":"2012-01-31T21:16:27","modified_gmt":"2012-01-31T21:16:27","slug":"did-syphilis-really-originate-in-the-new-world-an-old-theory-reconsidered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/2012\/01\/31\/did-syphilis-really-originate-in-the-new-world-an-old-theory-reconsidered\/","title":{"rendered":"Did syphilis really originate in the New World? An old theory reconsidered."},"content":{"rendered":"

Outside Naples, 1495, an unknown epidemic struck the mercenary army of the French King Charles VIII, subsequently considered to be the first recorded outbreak of syphilis in the Old World.\u00a0 As early as the sixteenth century, the sudden emergence of the disease was popularly attributed to Columbus\u2019 recent voyage to the New World. \u00a0Yet doubts have frequently been raised.\u00a0 Did syphilis really originate in the Americas?\u00a0 Or had it always existed in the Old World, and just by coincidence emerged with exceptional virulence shortly after Columbus\u2019 return?<\/p>\n

Twenty years ago, a comprehensive review of evidence for treponemal disease in the New and Old Worlds (Baker & Armalagos 1988) lent support to the popular theory of Columbian origin.\u00a0 Since then, however, a growing number of cases of treponemal disease have been reported in the pre-Columbian Old World. \u00a0A paper published last month (Harper & Armelagos) returns to the old question in the light of the new evidence, and provides a comprehensive assessment of the evidence to date.<\/p>\n

The evidence is hard to assess \u2013 for two reasons.\u00a0 The first is the difficulty of the identification of dry bone lesions that are specific to treponemal disease \u2013 let alone syphilis.\u00a0 The second relates to the dating of the evidence; this is rendered more complex by the so-called \u201cmarine reservoir effect\u201d, as a result of which ante-mortem consumption of marine foods can generate dates that are too early by a factor of hundreds of years.<\/p>\n

On the first issue Harper et al. argue that it is impossible with certainty to distinguish syphilis from other treponemal disease in the fossil record, but concur with Hackett (1976) that there are two macroscopic features that may be considered diagnostic of treponemal disease.\u00a0 These features do<\/em> occur in the fossil record.\u00a0 Ultimately, it is the second issue, that of dating, which poses the greater obstacle to any conclusive argument on the origin of syphilis.\u00a0 Of the 54 papers reviewed 12 include information on radiocarbon dating, and of these only 4 discuss the effect of marine reservoir.\u00a0 None of the cases considered can with certainty<\/em> be assigned to the pre-Columbian period.\u00a0 Ultimately, therefore, the evaluation of Harper et al. concludes that there is not a single published case from the Old World that can be confidently diagnosed as treponemal, and that has a radiocarbon date that places it firmly in the pre-Columbian period.\u00a0 Yet there is overwhelming evidence for its prevalence in the New World before this date, and for its occurrence in the Old World thereafter.<\/p>\n

Thus, 20 years after Baker & Armelagos\u2019 comprehensive review, the evidence still suggests that syphilis or its progenitor arose in the New World.<\/p>\n

Kristin N. Harper, George J. Armelagos et al., \u201cThe Origin and Antiquity of Syphilis Revisited: An Appraisal of Old World Pre-Columbian Evidence for Treponemal Infection\u201d, Yearbook of Physical Anthropology<\/em> 54: 99-133, 2011.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com.libproxy.ucl.ac.uk\/doi\/10.1002\/ajpa.21613\/full<\/a><\/p>\n

Baker B. & Armelagos G.,\u00a0\u201cThe origin and antiquity of syphilis: paleopathological diagnosis and interpretation\u201d,\u00a0Current \u00a0Anthropol<\/em> ogy, 29:703\u2013738, 1988.<\/p>\n

Hackett C.,\u00a0\u00a0Diagnostic criteria of syphilis, yaws and treponarid (treponematoses) and of some other diseases in dry bones (for use in osteo-archaeology)<\/em>, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1976.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Outside Naples, 1495, an unknown epidemic struck the mercenary army of the French King Charles VIII, subsequently considered to be the first recorded outbreak of syphilis in the Old World.\u00a0 As early as the sixteenth century, the sudden emergence of the disease was popularly attributed to Columbus\u2019 recent voyage to the New World. \u00a0Yet doubts […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":152,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2783,2381],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-historical","category-syphilis"],"yoast_head":"\nDid syphilis really originate in the New World? An old theory reconsidered. - Sexually Transmitted Infections<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/sti\/2012\/01\/31\/did-syphilis-really-originate-in-the-new-world-an-old-theory-reconsidered\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Did syphilis really originate in the New World? 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