SouthernWorldwide.com – A groundbreaking new study has unveiled evidence suggesting that leprosy, a debilitating infectious disease, was present in the Americas long before the arrival of European explorers.
Scientists have identified a second species of bacteria responsible for leprosy, also known as Hansen’s disease, in the Americas. This discovery challenges long-held beliefs about the disease’s origins on the continent.
Previously, it was widely assumed that the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae was the sole cause of leprosy in the Americas, and that its introduction was facilitated by early European explorers and settlers.
However, the identification of this second bacterial species, Mycobacterium lepromatosis, necessitates a revision of this historical narrative. It indicates that a form of the disease was already endemic in the Americas, predating European contact.
The study, a collaborative effort involving researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, and a U.S. university, revealed that Mycobacterium lepromatosis had been infecting humans for as long as 1,000 years before Europeans set foot on the continent.
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Dr. Maria Lopopolo, the lead author of the study and a researcher at the Institut Pasteur’s Laboratory of Microbial Paleogenomics, emphasized the transformative impact of this finding on our understanding of leprosy’s history in the Americas.
“This discovery transforms our understanding of the history of leprosy in America,” she stated in a news release. “It shows that a form of the disease was already endemic among Indigenous populations well before the Europeans arrived.”
The research was initiated after Mycobacterium lepromatosis was detected in a Mexican patient in 2008 and subsequently in red squirrels in the British Isles in 2016. This led to further investigation into its presence and history.
Employing sophisticated genetic techniques, scientists were able to reconstruct the genomes of Mycobacterium lepromatosis from ancient individuals in Argentina and Canada. The analysis revealed a close genetic relationship between the strains from these disparate regions within the Mycobacterium genome family tree.
This genetic proximity strongly suggests that the bacteria had spread rapidly across the continent, establishing itself in both North and South America long before the era of European exploration.
The research involved extensive collaboration with Indigenous communities, various international institutions, and archaeologists. This multidisciplinary approach allowed the scientists to analyze over 800 DNA samples sourced from ancient human remains and more recent medical cases exhibiting signs of leprosy.
Nicolás Rascovan, another lead author of the study from the Institut Pasteur, highlighted the study’s broader implications for understanding human history and the spread of pathogens.
“We are just beginning to uncover the diversity and global movements of this recently identified pathogen,” Rascovan commented. “This study allows us to hypothesize that there might be unknown animal reservoirs.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), leprosy is a chronic infectious disease that primarily affects the nerves, skin, and eyes. It is treatable with antibiotics.
The CDC reports that approximately 225 people in the U.S. and about 250,000 individuals globally contract Hansen’s disease annually. The revelation of Mycobacterium lepromatosis adds a new layer of complexity to the historical epidemiology of this disease in the Americas.
