Ancient DNA Traces Syphilis to Americas 9,000 Years Ago

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Syphilis is an STD (sexually transmitted disease) caused by bacterial infection and leads to serious health issues.

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The disease comes in stages and symptoms vary with them, with most serious symptoms being internal organ damage like brain damage, heart damage, liver damage and so on.

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This disease is curable if analyzed in earlier stages and can be prevented if one is conscious enough especially in their sexual life.

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In 1495, at a French army camp, the first ever case of syphilis was reported, just after Columbus returned from his voyage, then the disease saw a rapid spread throughout the world.

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It has been revealed that syphilis got global due to European colonialism, the disease predates the late fifteenth century by almost nine thousand years.

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DNA analysis of ancient bones from areas like Chile, Peru, Argentina and so on shows that syphilis existed in the Americas long before the first reported case.

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There has been an age- long debate between Columbian hypothesis and pre-Columbian hypothesis which is mostly about whether or not the disease came with Columbus

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This disease has made a comeback and it’s quite global with over a million cases diagnosed every year and few hundred thousand stillbirths reported annually.

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It has been revealed that syphilis can easily adapt to any conditions, however this is not a closure on the disease, a lot more is yet to be uncovered.

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