Treponemal infection in a Pleistocene bear

Area of Science:

• Paleopathology
• Microbiology
• Evolutionary Medicine

Background:

• The origin and age of treponemes, the bacteria causing syphilis, are controversial.
• The prevailing theory attributes syphilis introduction to Europe to Columbus's voyages, based on ancient skeletal lesions.
• Previous identifications of ancient treponemal infections lacked confirmation by modern immunological techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the ancient origins of treponemal infections.
• To determine if treponemal disease existed in the Americas before the Columbian exchange.
• To establish the earliest detection of treponemal disease using contemporary diagnostic methods.

Main Methods:

• Paleopathological examination of skeletal remains for lesions indicative of treponemal infection.
• Immunological testing of ancient lesions using antisera from the US Center for Disease Control (CDC).
• Radiometric dating of fossilized remains to establish age.

Main Results:

• Characteristic lesions of treponemal infection were identified in a Pleistocene bear fossil from Indiana.
• The lesions tested positive using CDC-verified antisera for syphilis infection.
• The bear fossil was dated to 11,500 years before present (BP).

Conclusions:

• This finding represents the earliest detection of treponemal disease using contemporary immunological techniques.
• The discovery challenges the theory that syphilis was introduced to the Old World from the New World by Columbus.
• Treponemal infections likely have a much older origin than previously established.