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

AUTOR(ES)

Salo, W L

RESUMO

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.

Documentos Relacionados

• A pre-Columbian Y chromosome-specific transition and its implications for human evolutionary history.
• Pre-Columbian human occupation of Amazonia and its influence on current landscapes and biodiversity
• Legacies of intensive management in forests around pre-columbian and modern settlements in the Madeira-Tapajós interfluve, Amazonia
• Pre-Columbian Chagas disease in Brazil: Trypanosoma cruzi I in the archaeological remains of a human in Peruaçu Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil
• Detection and identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by DNA amplification.