No proof that typhoid caused the Plague of Athens (a reply to Papagrigorakis et al.). of the International Society for Infectious Diseases 26.

摘要

The etiological agent of the Plague of Athens (430-426 BC) has been a hotly debated topic. Recently Papagrigorakis et al. claimed to have isolated typhoid fever DNA (caused by Salmonellaenterica serovar Typhi) from three 2500-year-old teeth from putative plague victims. DNA amplifications from these teeth, which come from the ancient Kerametkos mass burial site in Athens, resulted in two fragments of DNA, both showing some similarity to previously published Salmonella species.The authors' diagnosis is based on a similarity score, resulting from BLAST comparisons between their amplified fragments and published sequences. Specifically, the authors report a 7% divergence between their sequences and S. enterica serovar Typhi, and 8% divergence between their sequence and the next most closely-related Salmonella strain, S. typhimurium. Based on the closer match to S. enterica, the authors conclude that "[if] another, yet unknown pathogen... was the actual cause of the Plague of Athens, it would have to be closely related to S. enterica and definitely closer than S. typhimurium."