The evidence was presented by US researchers. As a result, a centuries-old debate about the origins of syphilis was revived. Researchers have said that a genetic analysis of the disease’s family tree that its closest relative was a cousin that originated in South America. The cousin diseased causes yaws which is an infection caused by a sub-species of the same bacteria.
“Some people think it is a really ancient disease that our earliest human ancestors would ever had. Other people think it came from the New World,” according to Kristin Harper, who is an evolutionary biologist at Atlanta’s Emory University.
“What we found is that syphilis or a progenitor came from the New World to the Old World and this happened pretty recently in human history,” she added.
Harper explains that the study lends credence to what is called the “Columbian theory.” This theory links the first recorded epidemic of syphilis in Europe in 1495 to the return of Christopher Columbus and his crew.
“When you put our genetic data with that epidemic in Naples in 1495, that is pretty strong support for the Columbian hypothesis,” Harper said.
This sexually transmitted disease is caused by the bacterium called Troponema pallidum. It starts out as a sore then evolves into a rash. From a rash, it turns into a fever. Syphilis can cause blindness, paralysis, and then dementia.
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