A treponemal genome from an historic plague victim supports recent emergence of yaws and its presence in 15th century Europe

Developments in techniques for identification of pathogen DNA in archaeological samples can expand our resolution of disease detection. Our application of a non-targeted molecular screening tool for the parallel detection of pathogens in historical plague victims from post-medieval Lithuania revealed the presence of more than one active disease in one individual. In addition to Yersinia pestis, we detected and genomically characterized a septic infection of Treponema pallidum pertenue, a subtype of the treponemal disease family recognised as the cause of the tropical disease yaws. Our finding in northern Europe of a disease that is currently restricted to equatorial regions is interpreted within an historical framework of intercontinental trade and potential disease movements. Through this we offer an alternative hypothesis for the history and evolution of the treponemal diseases, and posit that yaws be considered a contributor to the widespread physically disfiguring disease that appeared suddenly in late 15th century Europe.

考古样本中病原体DNA鉴定技术的发展，能够拓展我们在疾病检测领域的解析精度。我们将非靶向分子筛查工具应用于中世纪后期立陶宛地区历史鼠疫受害者的病原体并行检测，结果发现单一个体体内同时存在不止一种活动性传染病。除检出鼠疫耶尔森菌（Yersinia pestis）外，我们还检测到苍白密螺旋体极细亚型（Treponema pallidum pertenue）引发的败血性感染，并完成了该病原体的基因组特征解析——该亚型隶属于密螺旋体病科，是热带病雅司（yaws）的致病原。我们在北欧地区检出了目前仅局限于赤道区域流行的传染病，该发现可依托跨洲际贸易与病原体潜在传播的历史脉络进行解读。借此我们为密螺旋体病的演化与流行史提出了全新假说，并主张应当将雅司病视为15世纪末欧洲突然暴发的大范围体表畸形传染病的致病诱因之一。