TY - JOUR
T1 - Identification of Mycobacterium tuberculosis DNA in a pre-Columbian Peruvian mummy
AU - Salo, Wilmar L.
AU - Aufderheide, Arthur C.
AU - Buikstra, Jane
AU - Holcomb, Todd A.
PY - 1994/3/15
Y1 - 1994/3/15
N2 - 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.
AB - 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.
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.91.6.2091
DO - 10.1073/pnas.91.6.2091
M3 - Article
C2 - 8134354
AN - SCOPUS:0028214723
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 91
SP - 2091
EP - 2094
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 6
ER -