TY - JOUR
KW - Mycobacterium lepromatosis
KW - Ancient DNA
KW - Region of the Americas
KW - Phylogenetic
AU - Lopopolo M
AU - Avanzi C
AU - Duchene S
AU - Luisi P
AU - de Flamingh A
AU - Ponce-Soto GY
AU - Tressieres G
AU - Neumeyer S
AU - Lemoine F
AU - Nelson EA
AU - Iraeta-Orbegozo M
AU - Cybulski JS
AU - Mitchell J
AU - Marks VT
AU - Adams LB
AU - Lindo J
AU - DeGiorgio M
AU - Ortiz N
AU - Wiens C
AU - Hiebert J
AU - Bonifaz A
AU - Montes de Oca G
AU - Paredes-Solis V
AU - Franco-Paredes C
AU - Vera-Cabrera L
AU - Pereira Brunelli JG
AU - Jackson M
AU - Spencer JS
AU - Salgado CG
AU - Han X
AU - Pearce CM
AU - Warren AK
AU - Rosa PS
AU - de Finardi AJ
AU - Belone ADFF
AU - Ferreira C
AU - Suffys PN
AU - Fontes ANB
AU - Vasconcellos SEG
AU - Schaub R
AU - Couppié P
AU - Drak Alsibai K
AU - Hernández-Castro R
AU - Silva Miranda M
AU - Estrada-Garcia I
AU - Jurado-Santacruz F
AU - Orlando L
AU - Schroeder H
AU - Quintana-Murci L
AU - Del Papa M
AU - Lahiri R
AU - Malhi RS
AU - Rasmussen S
AU - Rascovan N
AB - <p>Leprosy, primarily caused by Mycobacterium leprae , is considered a disease introduced into the Americas during European colonization. However, the recent discovery of a second pathogen causing leprosy, M. lepromatosis , mainly found in the Americas, challenges this view. Here, we show that M. lepromatosis infected humans in the Americas before European contact. By screening 389 ancient and 408 contemporary samples, we have expanded the genetic data available for the species. Phylogenetic analyses revealed distinct human-infecting clades of M. lepromatosis , with one dominating North America since colonial times. The presence of millennia-old strains in North and South America indicates M. lepromatosis may have been widespread during the Late Holocene, demonstrating M. lepromatosis leprosy has a long-standing history in the Americas before European arrival.</p>

BT - Science
DO - 10.1126/science.adu7144
LA - eng
M3 - Research Article
N2 - <p>Leprosy, primarily caused by Mycobacterium leprae , is considered a disease introduced into the Americas during European colonization. However, the recent discovery of a second pathogen causing leprosy, M. lepromatosis , mainly found in the Americas, challenges this view. Here, we show that M. lepromatosis infected humans in the Americas before European contact. By screening 389 ancient and 408 contemporary samples, we have expanded the genetic data available for the species. Phylogenetic analyses revealed distinct human-infecting clades of M. lepromatosis , with one dominating North America since colonial times. The presence of millennia-old strains in North and South America indicates M. lepromatosis may have been widespread during the Late Holocene, demonstrating M. lepromatosis leprosy has a long-standing history in the Americas before European arrival.</p>

PB - American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
PY - 2025
SP - 1
EP - 16
T2 - Science
TI - Pre-European contact leprosy in the Americas and its current persistence
UR - https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adu7144
SN - 0036-8075, 1095-9203
ER -