A new study reveals that leprosy existed in the Americas before the arrival of Europeans

Scientists say that a species of bacteria rewrite the history of an infectious and potentially fatal disease arrived for the first time in the Americas. And it was long before the arrival of European explorers.

Researchers from the Institut Pasteur in Paris, in France, with the help of an American university, recently announced in a press release that a second species of bacteria is also responsible for the disease known as leprosy, or Hansen’s disease, in the Americas.

In the past yearsmany believed that the bacteria known as the name Mycobacterium leprae caused the leprosy and that it was only spread in America by the first European explorers and the colonists.

However, the revelation of a second bacteria puts this theory to blame the colonists on its head, because an existing tension was already on the continents which call the new world in him.

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The Paris Institute in Paris has announced that they had found a second species of bacteria responsible for disease in the Americas. (Netflix / Paramount)

The bacteria Mycobacterium lepromatosis existed and infected humans for 1,000 years before the arrival of Europeans, according to researchers.

Dr. Maria Lopopolo, the first author of the study and researcher at the microbial paleogenome laboratory at the Institut Pasteur, said that he changes everything on leprosy in the Americas.

“This discovery transforms our understanding of the history of leprosy in America. It shows that a form of the disease was already endemic among the indigenous populations long before the arrival of Europeans,” she said in the press release.

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Scientists at the Institut Pasteur de Paris, alongside the French National Center for Scientific Research and the University of Colorado, conducted the study. (istock)

The study – led by scientists from the microbial paleogenomeomic laboratory at the Pasteur Institute, alongside the French National Center for Scientific Research, and the University of Colorado in the United States – started after Mycobacterium lepromatosis was found in a Mexican patient in 2008 and red squirrels in the British Islands in 2016.

Using advanced genetic techniques to rebuild the genomes of Mycobacterium lepromatosis According to the former individuals of Argentina and Canada, the scientists found that the two strains of the different regions were genetically close to Mycobacterium Genealogical tree of the genome, which means that bacteria quickly spread over the continent.

The press release said the results confirmed that Mycobacterium lepromatosis had already spread throughout North and South America.

Researchers were able to study more than 800 different DNA samples from ancient human remains and recent medical cases showing signs of leprosy. (istock)

The researchers worked in collaboration with indigenous communities, various international institutions and archaeologists, according to the press release, and were able to study more than 800 DNA samples Ancient human remains and recent medical cases showing signs of leprosy.

Nicolás Rascovan, the main author of the study at Pastor of the Institutesaid research proves that human history can be changed.

“We are just starting to discover the diversity and global movements of this recently identified pathogen,” he said. “This study allows us to assume that there could be reservoirs of unknown animals.”

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THE Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that leprosy can affect the nerves, skin and eyes of patients and is treated with antibiotics. Up to 225 people in the United States and 250,000 worldwide, contract Hansen’s disease, according to the CDC.

Nick Butler is a journalist for Fox News Digital. Do you have any advice? Contact [email protected].