Pre-Columbian mycobacterial genomes reveal seals as a source of New World human tuberculosis.

Modern strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the Americas are closely related to those from Europe, supporting the assumption that human tuberculosis was introduced post-contact. This notion, however, is incompatible with archaeological evidence of pre-contact tuberculosis in the New World. Comparative genomics of modern isolates suggests that M. tuberculosis attained its worldwide distribution following human dispersals out of Africa during the Pleistocene epoch, although this has yet to be confirmed with ancient calibration points. Here we present three 1,000-year-old mycobacterial genomes from Peruvian human skeletons, revealing that a member of the M. tuberculosis complex caused human disease before contact. The ancient strains are distinct from known human-adapted forms and are most closely related to those adapted to seals and sea lions. Two independent dating approaches suggest a most recent common ancestor for the M. tuberculosis complex less than 6,000 years ago, which supports a Holocene dispersal of the disease. Our results implicate sea mammals as having played a role in transmitting the disease to humans across the ocean.

Europe, the bull and the Minotaur: the biological legacy of a Neolithic love story.

The European cattle was domesticated 10 000 years ago in eastern Turkey, 1000 years later pottery-associated milk fats identify cattle-based dairy activity in western Turkey. Subsequently, the Indo-European language, domesticated animals and plants travel as a Neolithic package along two major routes across Europe. A striking south-east to north-west gradient of a mutation in the current European population (lactase persistence into adulthood) documents the expansion of a Neolithic dairy culture into a Mesolithic hunter society. Using oral tradition (myths), archaeological and written historical evidence and biological data, it is asked whether highly transmissible viral diseases like measles and smallpox entered during the Neolithic from domesticated animals into the human population. The bovine origin of paramyxovirus infections is likely; smallpox comes from camels or from rodents via cattle while mycobacteria and Helicobacter infected humans already before the Neolithic. Microbes adapt constantly and quickly to changing ecological situations. The current global environmental changes will lead to another highly dynamic phase of viral transmissions into the human population.

Hantavirus infections in Europe: from virus carriers to a major public-health problem.

In Europe, hantavirus disease or hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is an endemic zoonosis that affects tens of thousands of individuals each year. The causative agents are viruses of the genus Hantavirus, family Bunyaviridae, rodents and insectivores act as carriers. In all European countries there is a seroprevalence for hantaviruses in the general population but not all countries report cases. Here, we give an overview of the hantavirus situation in Europe.

["Avian pests" and their very long history]. / Les "pestes aviaires" et leur très longue histoire.

Avian influenza is a contagious disease of birds widely spread in wild fowl (namely ducks) and most feared in domestic birds, which may be infected with the highly pathogenic strains of the virus (HPAI). Some mammals, including human beings, may also be affected and die. Specific tools for the diagnosis of HPAI were not available before 1955, but since then more than 25 outbreaks were reported throughout the world, with an unusual incidence in Asia and Europe after 2003. However, before 1955 and since the Antiquity, numerous important outbreaks have been reported in Europe in domestic or wild birds, with high morbidity and mortality rates. Such outbreaks involved either poultry (including domestic geese or ducks) or wild birds (water fowl or land fowl). As far as the latter were concerned, some authors of the Middle-Ages attributed the large-scale deaths of birds to pitched battles between different avian species. Many details are given on the places and dates of these outbreaks, as well as on their epidemiological features. The author recalls the need for strengthening the surveillance and control of HPAI to minimize any risk of pandemic following a genetic re-assortment of avian and human influenza viruses.

Control of cystic echinococcosis/hydatidosis: 1863-2002.

Echinococcosis/hydatidosis, caused by Echinococcus granulosus, is a chronic and debilitating zoonotic larval cestode infection in humans, which is principally transmitted between dogs and domestic livestock, particularly sheep. Human hydatid disease occurs in almost all pastoral communities and rangeland areas of the underdeveloped and developed world. Control programmes against hydatidosis have been implemented in several endemic countries, states, provinces, districts or regions to reduce or eliminate cystic echinococcosis (CE) as a public health problem. This review assesses the impact of 13 of the hydatid control programmes implemented, since the first was introduced in Iceland in 1863. Five island-based control programmes (Iceland, New Zealand, Tasmania, Falklands and Cyprus) resulted, over various intervention periods (from <15 to >50 years), in successful control of transmission as evidenced by major reduction in incidence rates of human CE, and prevalence levels in sheep and dogs. By 2002, two countries, Iceland and New Zealand, and one island-state, Tasmania, had already declared that hydatid disease had been eliminated from their territories. Other hydatid programmes implemented in South America (Argentina, Chile, Uruguay), in Europe (mid-Wales, Sardinia) and in East Africa (northwest Kenya), showed varying degrees of success, but some were considered as having failed. Reasons for the eventual success of certain hydatid control programmes and the problems encountered in others are analysed and discussed, and recommendations for likely optimal approaches considered. The application of new control tools, including use of a hydatid vaccine, are also considered.

The history of anthrax.

Anthrax, a potentially fatal infection, is a virulent and highly contagious disease. Descriptions of this disease begin in antiquity, with the best ancient account being by the Roman poet Virgil. During the 19th century, anthrax was the infection involved in several important medical developments. It served as the prototype for Koch's postulates regarding the causation of infectious disease. The first vaccine containing attenuated live organisms was Louis Pasteur's veterinary anthrax vaccine. In the 1900s, human inhalation anthrax occurred sporadically in the United States among textile and tanning workers, but the incidence of the illness had declined dramatically. An outbreak of inhalation anthrax occurred in Sverdlovsk near a Soviet military microbiology facility in 1979. This epidemic represented the largest documented outbreak of human inhalation anthrax in history. In October and November 2001, 22 cases of confirmed or suspected inhalation and cutaneous anthrax were reported associated with the intentional release of the organism in the United States. An additional case of cutaneous disease occurred in March of 2002.

Bacteria in two-millennia-old cheese, and related epizoonoses in Roman populations.

A tremendous volcanic eruption destroyed all the life around Mount Vesuvius during the night between 24 and 25 August, 79 AD. Two famous towns, Pompeii and Herculaneum, were completely buried under volcanic products. At Herculaneum, about 25m of volcanic mud killed about 250 people who had fled to the beaches in an attempt to escape (Bisel, S. C.,Rivista di Studi Pompeiani, 1, 123-124, 1987). An anthropological examination of the skeletons of these "fugitives" reveals the bone lesions typical of brucellosis in 17.4% of adults (Capasso, L., International Journal of Osteoarchaelogy, 9, 277-288, 1999). This very high incidence of brucellosis was theoretically linked to the consumption of ovine milk and its derivates, which is also indicated by both literary and figurative sources. A single carbonized cheese was found in Herculaneum; its analysis clearly reveals the excellent state of preservation of the milk curds. For the first time, we demonstrate the presence of a variety of bacteria, possibly Lactobacillus, that also includes cocco-like forms that seem to be morphologically and dimensionally consistent with Brucella. The long interval spent by the organic remains under the volcanic mud and high temperatures they suffered preclude the possibility of identifying the bacteria through molecular methods.

[Two states in the history of the concept of contagion: from Hippocrates to Galen]. / Deux étapes dans l'histoire de la notion de contagion: d'Hippocrate à Galien.

The Hippocratic doctor does not believe any more in magico-religious "miasmata" that pollute whole populations; he accuses the environmental air, thus freeing his fellow-men from the fear of gods' wrath but impeding the rise of the concept of contagion and disconnecting his own experience from the vet's. Galen however observing a few cases of lepra in Minor Asia intuits human contagion.

History of veterinary public health in Europe in the 19th century.

An account is given of early discoveries concerning the nature of diseases of animals. These discoveries laid the foundations for the development of veterinary public health services in Europe. Special reference is made to developments in Germany.