It was the Romans who spread tuberculosis around the world
Genetic analyses suggest that although tuberculosis first appeared in Africa about 5,000 years ago, the Roman Empire is behind its rapid spread in Europe and across other continents.
About ¼ The human population has been in contact with mycobacteria. In a sizable proportion of these individualsob, the disease can remain dormant. Tuberculosis is one of the 10 mainoof the various causes of death around the world.
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have conducted analyses of the bacterial genome Mycobacterium tuberculosis, to explain the disease’s wide spread. They downloaded 550 probek bacteria collected from cooof modern populations from Africa and Eurasia.
Porownning genetic sequences probek, zespoĊ scientistsow created a timeline showing how the disease spread. Seven existing strains have been identifiedoIn bacteria. Three of them have spread locally, but the other four have conquered the whole world.
Researchers found that the spread of disease – of the most widespread strain, falls around the first century AD, which corresponds to the period of particularoThe Roman Empire’s lne activity particularlyolnie in the Mediterranean basinoDean. There was then contact between the Romans and other populations of the.
– The evolution of bacteria is inextricably linked to humans. The schedule for the spread of the disease is spojny with the activity of Romans. The populations then came into contact, whichore had no contact with each other before – said Caitlin Pepperell, author of the study, ktore can be found on bioRxiv.org. She added that the spread of the disease has been encouraged by barracks and public baths gaining popularity.
The fact that diseases spread along trade routes and coincided with migrations and troop movements is not surprising. The Roman Empire absorbed cultures from all over the world, which created ideal conditions for the spread of chorob.
