Genetic Evidence of the Black Death in the Abbey of San Leonardo (Apulia Region, Italy): Tracing the Cause of Death in Two Individuals Buried with Coins

The Abbey of San Leonardo in Siponto (Apulia, Southern Italy) was an important religious and medical center during the Middle Ages. It was a crossroads for pilgrims heading along the Via Francigena to the Sanctuary of Monte Sant’Angelo and for merchants passing through the harbor of Manfredonia. A recent excavation of Soprintendenza Archeologica della Puglia investigated a portion of the related cemetery, confirming its chronology to be between the end of the 13th and beginning of the 14th century. Two single graves preserved individuals accompanied by numerous coins dating back to the 14th century, hidden in clothes and in a bag tied to the waist. The human remains of the individuals were analyzed in the Laboratorio di Antropologia Fisica of Soprintendenza ABAP della città metropolitana di Bari. Three teeth from each individual were collected and sent to the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale di Puglia e Basilicata to study infectious diseases such as malaria, plague, tuberculosis, epidemic typhus and Maltese fever (Brucellosis), potentially related to the lack of inspection of the bodies during burial procedures. DNA extracted from six collected teeth and two additional unrelated human teeth (negative controls) were analyzed using PCR to verify the presence of human DNA (β-globulin) and of pathogens such as Plasmodium spp., Yersinia pestis, Mycobacterium spp., Rickettsia spp. and Brucella spp. The nucleotide sequence of the amplicon was determined to confirm the results. Human DNA was successfully amplified from all eight dental extracts and two different genes of Y. pestis were amplified and sequenced in 4 out of the 6 teeth. Molecular analyses ascertained that the individuals buried in San Leonardo were victims of the Black Death (1347–1353) and the data confirmed the lack of inspection of the corpses despite the presence of numerous coins. This study represents molecular evidence, for the first time, of Southern Italy’s involvement in the second wave of the plague pandemic.

GroEL is an immunodominant surface-exposed antigen of Rickettsia typhi

Rickettsioses are neglected and emerging potentially fatal febrile diseases that are caused by obligate intracellular bacteria, rickettsiae. Rickettsia (R.) typhi and R. prowazekii constitute the typhus group (TG) of rickettsiae and are the causative agents of endemic and epidemic typhus, respectively. We recently generated a monoclonal antibody (BNI52) against R. typhi. Characterization of BNI52 revealed that it specifically recognizes TG rickettsiae but not the members of the spotted fever group (SFG) rickettsiae. We further show that BNI52 binds to protein fragments of ±30 kDa that are exposed on the bacterial surface and also present in the periplasmic space. These protein fragments apparently derive from the cytosolic GroEL protein of R. typhi and are also recognized by antibodies in the sera from patients and infected mice. Furthermore, BNI52 opsonizes the bacteria for the uptake by antigen presenting cells (APC), indicating a contribution of GroEL-specific antibodies to protective immunity. Finally, it is interesting that the GroEL protein belongs to 32 proteins that are differentially downregulated by R. typhi after passage through immunodeficient BALB/c CB17 SCID mice. This could be a hint that the rickettsia GroEL protein may have immunomodulatory properties as shown for the homologous protein from several other bacteria, too. Overall, the results of this study provide evidence that GroEL represents an immunodominant antigen of TG rickettsiae that is recognized by the humoral immune response against these pathogens and that may be interesting as a vaccine candidate. Apart from that, the BNI52 antibody represents a new tool for specific detection of TG rickettsiae in various diagnostic and experimental setups.

The contributions of James Carmichael Smyth, Archibald Menzies and Robert Jackson to the treatment of typhus in royal naval vessels in the late 18th century

In late 18th century Britain, typhus fever plagued the mass mobilisation of soldiers and posed a significant challenge to physicians of the time. Epidemic typhus was spread through highly infectious faeces of infected lice and carried a high mortality in patients and healthcare staff alike. Physicians James Carmichael Smyth (1741–1821) and Archibald Menzies (1754–1842) theorized that typhus fever was caused by infection of human exhalation. They trialled the use of vapourised nitrous acid to fumigate patients, their clothes and their bedspace, with apparent success. Despite this, typhus fever continued to ravage deployments of soldiers into the early 19th century, stimulating the continuing evolution of the understanding of typhus and its treatment.

Scientific legacy of DR. Henry Mosing (In commemoration of the 110thanniversary of his birthday)

On the basis of the analysis of the scientific works and archival and documentary materials, the authors studied the history of the scientific legacy of G.S. Mosing, the outstanding epidemiologist of the twentieth century. The study of aetiology, pathogenesis, clinical picture and treatment of epidemic typhus is presented in the scientist’s works. Dr. G. Mosing developed the effective system of antiepidemic measures aimed at the complete elimination of this disease.

‘Irish fever’ in Britain during the Great Famine: immigration, disease and the legacy of ‘Black ’47’

During the worst year of the Great Irish Famine, ‘Black ’47’, tens of thousands of people fled across the Irish Sea from Ireland to Britain, desperately escaping the starvation and disease plaguing their country. These refugees, crowding unavoidably into the most insalubrious accommodation British towns and cities had to offer, were soon blamed for deadly outbreaks of epidemic typhus which emerged across the country during the first half of 1847. Indeed, they were accused of transporting the pestilence, then raging in Ireland, over with them. Typhus mortality rates in Ireland and Britain soared, and so closely connected with the disease were the Irish in Britain that it was widely referred to as ‘Irish fever’. Much of what we know about this epidemic is based on a handful of studies focusing almost exclusively on major cities along the British west-coast. Moreover, there has been little attempt to understand the legacy of the episode on the Irish in Britain. Taking a national perspective, this article argues that the ‘Irish fever’ epidemic of 1847 spread far beyond the western port of entry, and that the epidemic, by entrenching the association of the Irish with deadly disease, contributed significantly to the difficulties Britain's Irish population faced in the 1850s.

Why do we iron clothes? Tracking its origins based on a sanitary hypothesis

While the task of ironing clothes is generally disliked and seen as a waste of energy, people continue ironing. There are no serious groups or movements against ironing, as it is a behaviour engraved in the collective mind. In this study, we consider it a cultural behaviour that is performed due to an underlying, historical reason that is yet unknown. The aim of this study, however, is to provide a historically appropriate reason for this task. A meta-analysis based on internet searches showed that people primarily iron clothes for aesthetic reasons, which is a non-satisfactory explanation. Some people, however, provided a hygiene-based motive. Based on this probable origin for the act of ironing, a historical review was conducted based on the premise of ironing to disinfect clothes. Some patents were found that dated back to the middle of the 19th century, so ironing had already been established to remove wrinkles at this time. Other clinical reports and recommendations suggested that ironing not only kills lice and nits on the clothes, it also disinfects them from the causative organisms of epidemic typhus and other louse-borne diseases. Thus, the use of ironing in early times, (i.e., before the invention of chemicals, such as pyrethroids, or in situations when there was a lack of water to boil the clothes, like war) demonstrates that hygiene is a plausible reason to explain the dissemination of this behaviour.

The Fever of War: Epidemic Typhus and Public Health in Revolutionary Mexico City, 1915–1917

This article examines Mexico City's typhus epidemic of 1915–16 and makes three central claims. First, the federal response to the outbreak, while laudable in light of the grim circumstances, was disjointed and excessively bureaucratic. Second, the epidemic drew out long-standing stereotypes of poor indigenous populations, leading people to make misguided linkages between the high incidence of typhus within those populations and their supposed moral or intellectual shortcomings. Third, the typhus epidemic prompted fundamental reforms to the nation's public health system. As a delegate to the constitutional convention of 1917, the nation's chief public health officer, general and doctor José María Rodríguez, successfully promoted his vision of a “sanitary dictatorship” that would operate according to strict authoritarian principles for the sake of efficiency. The epidemic thus shaped not only the human experience in that moment but also the course of revolutionary political reform in the years to come.

Climate factors driven typhus group rickettsiosis incidence dynamics in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture of Yunnan province in China, 2005–2017

Background Typhus group rickettsiosis (TGR), which is a neglected vector-borne infectious disease, including epidemic typhus and endemic typhus. We explored the lag effects and nonlinear association between meteorological factors and TGR incidence in Xishuangbanna Dai autonomous prefecture from 2005 to 2017, China. Methods A Poisson regression with a distributed lag nonlinear model (DLNM) was utilized to analyze TGR cases data and the contemporaneous meteorological data. Results A J-shaped nonlinear association between weekly mean temperature and TGR incidence was found. The cumulative exposure to weekly mean temperature indicated that the RR increased with the increment of temperature. Taking the median value as the reference, lower temperatures could decrease the risk of TGR incidence, while higher temperatures could increase the risk of TGR incidence and last for 21 weeks. We also found a reversed U-shaped nonlinear association between weekly mean precipitation and TGR incidence. Precipitation between 5 mm and 13 mm could increase the risk of TGR incidence. Taking the median value as the reference, no precipitation and lower precipitation could decrease the risk of TGR incidence, while higher precipitation could increase the risk of TGR incidence and last for 18 weeks. Conclusions The prevention and control measures of TGR should be implemented according to climatic conditions by the local government and health departments in order to improve the efficiency.