On August 3, 1492, Italian navigator Christopher Columbus and his crew ventured to the sea to discover the New World. Although they did discover new lands, they were also blamed for bringing syphilis to Europe after their travels.
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted disease caused by the bacteria Treponema pallidum, and its origins wreaked havoc throughout Europe from the late 15th century to the 18th century, although it remains unclear.
But a new study reveals that the bacteria that causes syphilis was already common in Europe in the early 1400s even before Columbus sailed.
Researchers from the University of Zurich said that Columbus and his crew are not to be blamed for the syphilis outbreak in Europe that lasted for three centuries, after they analyzed the skeletons they found in Finland, Estonia, and the Netherlands.
Syphilis Already Common in Europe
Though the study was not able to identify the cause of the three-century long syphilis outbreak in Europe, the study tracked the origin of T. pallidum to know when it started and explain its beginnings.
The researchers found traces of the bacteria in the human remains in six skeletons in Finland, two in Estonia, and one in the Netherlands. Molecular dating and radiocarbon dating of the bacterial samples indicate a pre-Columbian origin of the bacteria in Europe.
Additionally, they found the related syphilis disease yaws in the skeleton in the Netherlands- although this disease is only found in tropical and subtropical countries. Yaws can be transmitted via skin contact, much like syphilis, but rarely through sexual contact.
Paleogenetics professor Verena Schünemann, from the University of Zurich's Evolutionary Medicine, said that their study indicates yaws was common throughout Europe and not only limited to the tropics, unlike today.
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Unknown Pathogen Discovered
But it was not only the yaws that the researchers discovered, for they also found a pathogen that belongs to a new and unknown treponemal lineage. According to the researchers, this lineage evolved from syphilis and yaws but is no longer present today.
It is also possible that the existence of several closely related subspecies of T. pallidum throughout Europe might have persisted in overlapping regions across the continent that sometimes infected the same person.
The treponematoses had already spread widely in Europe in the early modern period, evident in its spatial distribution in Europe's northern region.
Syphilis Evolved Before the Intercontinental Contact
Schünemann said that the genomes from the skeletons made it possible for scientists to apply a more reliable dating to the bacteria's origin. The genetic analyses conducted on the genomes suggest that T. pallidum could have evolved at least 2,500 years ago.
In particular, the study suggested that venereal syphilis' common ancestor could be traced back to those in the 12th and 16th centuries. The bacteria discovered in early Europe could mean that the diversity of treponematoses during that time may have developed in the Old World even before the intercontinental contacts.
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