1
|
Yersinia pestis Plasminogen Activator. Biomolecules 2020; 10:biom10111554. [PMID: 33202679 PMCID: PMC7696990 DOI: 10.3390/biom10111554] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Revised: 11/12/2020] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis causes plague, a fatal flea-borne anthropozoonosis, which can progress to aerosol-transmitted pneumonia. Y. pestis overcomes the innate immunity of its host thanks to many pathogenicity factors, including plasminogen activator, Pla. This factor is a broad-spectrum outer membrane protease also acting as adhesin and invasin. Y. pestis uses Pla adhesion and proteolytic capacity to manipulate the fibrinolytic cascade and immune system to produce bacteremia necessary for pathogen transmission via fleabite or aerosols. Because of microevolution, Y. pestis invasiveness has increased significantly after a single amino-acid substitution (I259T) in Pla of one of the oldest Y. pestis phylogenetic groups. This mutation caused a better ability to activate plasminogen. In paradox with its fibrinolytic activity, Pla cleaves and inactivates the tissue factor pathway inhibitor (TFPI), a key inhibitor of the coagulation cascade. This function in the plague remains enigmatic. Pla (or pla) had been used as a specific marker of Y. pestis, but its solitary detection is no longer valid as this gene is present in other species of Enterobacteriaceae. Though recovering hosts generate anti-Pla antibodies, Pla is not a good subunit vaccine. However, its deletion increases the safety of attenuated Y. pestis strains, providing a means to generate a safe live plague vaccine.
Collapse
|
2
|
Afouda P, Dubourg G, Raoult D. Archeomicrobiology applied to environmental samples. Microb Pathog 2020; 143:104140. [DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2019] [Revised: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 03/10/2020] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
|
3
|
Barbieri R, Mekni R, Levasseur A, Chabrière E, Signoli M, Tzortzis S, Aboudharam G, Drancourt M. Paleoproteomics of the Dental Pulp: The plague paradigm. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0180552. [PMID: 28746380 PMCID: PMC5528255 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180552] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2017] [Accepted: 05/30/2017] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Chemical decomposition and fragmentation may limit the detection of ancient host and microbial DNA while some proteins can be detected for extended periods of time. We applied paleoproteomics on 300-year-old dental pulp specimens recovered from 16 individuals in two archeological funeral sites in France, comprising one documented plague site and one documented plague-negative site. The dental pulp paleoproteome of the 16 teeth comprised 439 peptides representative of 30 proteins of human origin and 211 peptides representative of 27 proteins of non-human origin. Human proteins consisted of conjunctive tissue and blood proteins including IgA immunoglobulins. Four peptides were indicative of three presumable Yersinia pestis proteins detected in 3/8 dental pulp specimens from the plague-positive site but not in the eight dental pulp specimens collected in the plague-negative site. Paleoproteomics applied to the dental pulp is a new and innovative approach to screen ancient individuals for the detection of blood-borne pathogens and host inflammatory response.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Rémi Barbieri
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, CNRS, Faculté de Médecine IHU Méditerranée-Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Rania Mekni
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, CNRS, Faculté de Médecine IHU Méditerranée-Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Anthony Levasseur
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, CNRS, Faculté de Médecine IHU Méditerranée-Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Eric Chabrière
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, CNRS, Faculté de Médecine IHU Méditerranée-Infection, Marseille, France
| | | | | | - Gérard Aboudharam
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, CNRS, Faculté de Médecine IHU Méditerranée-Infection, Marseille, France
| | - Michel Drancourt
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, CNRS, Faculté de Médecine IHU Méditerranée-Infection, Marseille, France
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
CESANA D, BENEDICTOW O, BIANUCCI R. The origin and early spread of the Black Death in Italy: first evidence of plague victims from 14th-century Liguria (northern Italy). ANTHROPOL SCI 2017. [DOI: 10.1537/ase.161011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- D. CESANA
- Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici, DAFIST, Università degli Studi di Genova, Genova
| | - O.J. BENEDICTOW
- Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History, Section of History, University of Oslo, Blindern Campus, Oslo
| | - R. BIANUCCI
- Department of Public Health and Paediatric Sciences, Legal Medicine Section, University of Turin, Turin
- UMR 7268, Laboratoire d’Anthropologie bio-culturelle, Droit, Etique & Santé (Adés), Faculté de Médecine de Marseille, Marseille
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
|
6
|
Drancourt M, Raoult D. Molecular history of plague. Clin Microbiol Infect 2016; 22:911-915. [PMID: 27615720 DOI: 10.1016/j.cmi.2016.08.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2016] [Revised: 08/30/2016] [Accepted: 08/30/2016] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Plague, a deadly zoonose caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, has been firmly documented in 39 historical burial sites in Eurasia that date from the Bronze Age to two historical pandemics spanning the 6th to 18th centuries. Palaeomicrobiologic data, including gene and spacer sequences, whole genome sequences and protein data, confirmed that two historical pandemics swept over Europe from probable Asian sources and possible two-way-ticket journeys back from Europe to Asia. These investigations made it possible to address questions regarding the potential sources and routes of transmission by completing the standard rodent and rodent-flea transmission scheme. This suggested that plague was transmissible by human ectoparasites such as lice, and that Y. pestis was able to persist for months in the soil, which is a source of reinfection for burrowing mammals. The analyses of seven complete genome sequences from the Bronze Age indicated that Y. pestis was probably not an ectoparasite-borne pathogen in these populations. Further analyses of 14 genomes indicated that the Justinian pandemic strains may have formed a clade distinct from the one responsible for the second pandemic, spanning in Y. pestis branch 1, which also comprises the third pandemic strains. Further palaeomicrobiologic studies must tightly connect with historical and anthropologic studies to resolve questions regarding the actual sources of plague in ancient populations, alternative routes of transmission and resistance traits. Answering these questions will broaden our understanding of plague epidemiology so we may better face the actuality of this deadly infection in countries where it remains epidemic.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- M Drancourt
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, CNRS, IRD, URMITE, Marseille, France
| | - D Raoult
- Aix Marseille Université, INSERM, CNRS, IRD, URMITE, Marseille, France.
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Campana MG, Robles García N, Rühli FJ, Tuross N. False positives complicate ancient pathogen identifications using high-throughput shotgun sequencing. BMC Res Notes 2014; 7:111. [PMID: 24568097 PMCID: PMC3938818 DOI: 10.1186/1756-0500-7-111] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2014] [Accepted: 02/20/2014] [Indexed: 12/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Identification of historic pathogens is challenging since false positives and negatives are a serious risk. Environmental non-pathogenic contaminants are ubiquitous. Furthermore, public genetic databases contain limited information regarding these species. High-throughput sequencing may help reliably detect and identify historic pathogens. Results We shotgun-sequenced 8 16th-century Mixtec individuals from the site of Teposcolula Yucundaa (Oaxaca, Mexico) who are reported to have died from the huey cocoliztli (‘Great Pestilence’ in Nahautl), an unknown disease that decimated native Mexican populations during the Spanish colonial period, in order to identify the pathogen. Comparison of these sequences with those deriving from the surrounding soil and from 4 precontact individuals from the site found a wide variety of contaminant organisms that confounded analyses. Without the comparative sequence data from the precontact individuals and soil, false positives for Yersinia pestis and rickettsiosis could have been reported. Conclusions False positives and negatives remain problematic in ancient DNA analyses despite the application of high-throughput sequencing. Our results suggest that several studies claiming the discovery of ancient pathogens may need further verification. Additionally, true single molecule sequencing’s short read lengths, inability to sequence through DNA lesions, and limited ancient-DNA-specific technical development hinder its application to palaeopathology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Michael G Campana
- Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, Peabody Museum, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
| | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
8
|
Malou N, Tran TNN, Nappez C, Signoli M, Le Forestier C, Castex D, Drancourt M, Raoult D. Immuno-PCR--a new tool for paleomicrobiology: the plague paradigm. PLoS One 2012; 7:e31744. [PMID: 22347507 PMCID: PMC3276503 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0031744] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/28/2011] [Accepted: 01/12/2012] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND The cause of past plague pandemics was controversial but several research teams used PCR techniques and dental pulp as the primary material to reveal that they were caused by Yersinia pestis. However, the degradation of DNA limits the ability to detect ancient infections. METHODS We used for the first time immuno-PCR to detect Yersinia pestis antigens; it can detect protein concentrations 70 times lower than the standard ELISA. After determining the cut-off value, we tested 34 teeth that were obtained from mass graves of plague, and compared previous PCR results with ELISA and immuno-PCR results. RESULTS The immuno-PCR technique was the most sensitive (14 out of 34) followed by the PCR technique (10 out of 34) and ELISA (3 out of 34). The combination of these three methods identified 18 out of 34 (53%) teeth as presumably being from people with the plague. CONCLUSION Immuno-PCR is specific (no false-positive samples were found) and more sensitive than the currently used method to detect antigens of ancient infections in dental pulp. The combination of three methods, ELISA, PCR and immuno-PCR, increased the capacity to identify ancient pathogens in dental pulp.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nada Malou
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, UMR CNRS 6236- IRD 198, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France
| | - Thi-Nguyen-Ny Tran
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, UMR CNRS 6236- IRD 198, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France
| | - Claude Nappez
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, UMR CNRS 6236- IRD 198, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France
| | - Michel Signoli
- Aix-Marseille Université, Anthropologie Bioculturelle, UMR 6578 CNRS, EFS, Marseille, France
| | - Cyrille Le Forestier
- Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives UMR 6130, Centre d'Etudes Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen Age, Direction Interrégionale Centre, Ile de France, France
| | - Dominique Castex
- De la Préhistoire à l'Actuel: Culture Environnement et Anthropologie - Laboratoire d'Anthropologie des Populations du Passé, UMR 5199, Université de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
| | - Michel Drancourt
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, UMR CNRS 6236- IRD 198, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France
| | - Didier Raoult
- Aix-Marseille Université, URMITE, UMR CNRS 6236- IRD 198, Faculté de Médecine, Marseille, France,* E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Tran TNN, Forestier CL, Drancourt M, Raoult D, Aboudharam G. Brief communication: co-detection of Bartonella quintana and Yersinia pestis in an 11th-15th burial site in Bondy, France. AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2011; 145:489-94. [PMID: 21541920 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.21510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2010] [Accepted: 01/17/2011] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
Historical and anthropological data suggest that skeletons excavated from an 11th to 15th century mass grave in Bondy, France, may be those of victims of the Great Plague. Using high-throughput real-time PCR investigation of the dental pulp collected from 14 teeth from five such skeletons, we detected Bartonella quintana DNA in three individuals and Yersinia pestis DNA in two individuals. DNA from five other deadly pathogens was not found. Suicide PCR genotyping confirmed Y. pestis DNA belonging to the Orientalis biotype. One individual had co-infection. These data suggest a plague epidemic in a population already infected by the body louse-transmitted B. quintana or a body louse-driven transmission of the plague that drove a medieval epidemic in inland Europe.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thi-Nguyen-Ny Tran
- Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales Emergentes, UMR CNRS, IRD, IFR, Faculté de médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille, France
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
10
|
Tran TNN, Signoli M, Fozzati L, Aboudharam G, Raoult D, Drancourt M. High throughput, multiplexed pathogen detection authenticates plague waves in medieval Venice, Italy. PLoS One 2011; 6:e16735. [PMID: 21423736 PMCID: PMC3053355 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0016735] [Citation(s) in RCA: 53] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2010] [Accepted: 12/26/2010] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Historical records suggest that multiple burial sites from the
14th–16th centuries in Venice, Italy, were used during
the Black Death and subsequent plague epidemics. Methodology/Principal Findings High throughput, multiplexed real-time PCR detected DNA of seven highly
transmissible pathogens in 173 dental pulp specimens collected from 46
graves. Bartonella quintana DNA was identified in five
(2.9%) samples, including three from the 16th century and two from
the 15th century, and Yersinia pestis DNA was detected in
three (1.7%) samples, including two from the 14th century and one
from the 16th century. Partial glpD gene sequencing
indicated that the detected Y. pestis was the Orientalis
biotype. Conclusions These data document for the first time successive plague epidemics in the
medieval European city where quarantine was first instituted in the 14th
century.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Thi-Nguyen-Ny Tran
- Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales
Emergentes (URMITE), UMR CNRS 6236 IRD 198, IFR48, Faculté de
Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille,
France
| | - Michel Signoli
- Anthropologie Bioculturelle, UMR 6578 CNRS, EFS, Université de la
Méditerranée, Marseille, France
| | - Luigi Fozzati
- Soprintendenza Archeologica del Veneto, Venice, Italy
| | - Gérard Aboudharam
- Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales
Emergentes (URMITE), UMR CNRS 6236 IRD 198, IFR48, Faculté de
Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille,
France
| | - Didier Raoult
- Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales
Emergentes (URMITE), UMR CNRS 6236 IRD 198, IFR48, Faculté de
Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille,
France
| | - Michel Drancourt
- Unité de Recherche sur les Maladies Infectieuses et Tropicales
Emergentes (URMITE), UMR CNRS 6236 IRD 198, IFR48, Faculté de
Médecine, Université de la Méditerranée, Marseille,
France
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Haensch S, Bianucci R, Signoli M, Rajerison M, Schultz M, Kacki S, Vermunt M, Weston DA, Hurst D, Achtman M, Carniel E, Bramanti B. Distinct clones of Yersinia pestis caused the black death. PLoS Pathog 2010; 6:e1001134. [PMID: 20949072 PMCID: PMC2951374 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1001134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 143] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/28/2010] [Accepted: 09/07/2010] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
From AD 1347 to AD 1353, the Black Death killed tens of millions of people in Europe, leaving misery and devastation in its wake, with successive epidemics ravaging the continent until the 18(th) century. The etiology of this disease has remained highly controversial, ranging from claims based on genetics and the historical descriptions of symptoms that it was caused by Yersinia pestis to conclusions that it must have been caused by other pathogens. It has also been disputed whether plague had the same etiology in northern and southern Europe. Here we identified DNA and protein signatures specific for Y. pestis in human skeletons from mass graves in northern, central and southern Europe that were associated archaeologically with the Black Death and subsequent resurgences. We confirm that Y. pestis caused the Black Death and later epidemics on the entire European continent over the course of four centuries. Furthermore, on the basis of 17 single nucleotide polymorphisms plus the absence of a deletion in glpD gene, our aDNA results identified two previously unknown but related clades of Y. pestis associated with distinct medieval mass graves. These findings suggest that plague was imported to Europe on two or more occasions, each following a distinct route. These two clades are ancestral to modern isolates of Y. pestis biovars Orientalis and Medievalis. Our results clarify the etiology of the Black Death and provide a paradigm for a detailed historical reconstruction of the infection routes followed by this disease.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stephanie Haensch
- Institute for Anthropology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| | - Raffaella Bianucci
- Laboratory of Criminalistic Sciences Department of Anatomy, Pharmacology and Legal Medicine, University of Turin, Turin, Italy
- Unité d'Anthropologie Bioculturelle, Faculté de Medecine, University of Mediterranean-CNRS-EFS, Marseille, France
| | - Michel Signoli
- Unité d'Anthropologie Bioculturelle, Faculté de Medecine, University of Mediterranean-CNRS-EFS, Marseille, France
- Centre d'Études Préhistoire, Antiquité, Moyen-âge, UMR 6130 CNRS–250 University of Nice, Valbonne, France
| | - Minoarisoa Rajerison
- Center for Plague, Institute Pasteur de Madagascar, World Health Organization Collaborating, Antananarivo, Madagascar
| | - Michael Schultz
- Department of Anatomy and Embryology Medical Faculty, Georg-August University, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Sacha Kacki
- Inrap, Villeneuve-d'Ascq Archaeological Center, Villeneuve-d'Ascq, France
- Laboratoire d'Anthropologie des Populations du Passé, Université Bordeaux 1, Talence, France
| | - Marco Vermunt
- Department of Monuments and Archaeology, Municipality of Bergen op Zoom, Bergen op Zoom, The Netherlands
| | - Darlene A. Weston
- Barge's Anthropologica, Department of Anatomy and Embryology, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Division of Archaeological Sciences, University of Bradford, Bradford, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom
- Department of Human Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Derek Hurst
- Worcestershire Historic Environment and Archaeology Service, Worcestershire County Council, Worcester, United Kingdom
| | - Mark Achtman
- Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
| | | | - Barbara Bramanti
- Institute for Anthropology, Johannes Gutenberg University, Mainz, Germany
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Fornaciari G, Giuffra V, Ferroglio E, Gino S, Bianucci R. Plasmodium falciparum immunodetection in bone remains of members of the Renaissance Medici family (Florence, Italy, sixteenth century). Trans R Soc Trop Med Hyg 2010; 104:583-7. [PMID: 20673935 DOI: 10.1016/j.trstmh.2010.06.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2009] [Revised: 06/22/2010] [Accepted: 06/22/2010] [Indexed: 10/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Medical accounts and ancient autopsy reports imply that tertian malarial fevers caused the death of four members of the Medici family of Florence: Eleonora of Toledo (1522-1562), Cardinal Giovanni (1543-1562), don Garzia (1547-1562) and Grand Duke Francesco I (1531-1587). All members of the Medici family hunted in the endemic malarial areas of Tuscany, such as the marshy areas surrounding their villas and along the swampy Maremma and were, therefore, highly exposed to the risk of being infected by Falciparum malaria. To determine if the original death certificates issued by the court physicians were correct, we carried out immunological investigations and then compared the biological results to the historical sources. Bone samples were examined for the presence of Plasmodium falciparum histidine-rich- protein-2 (PfHRP2) and P. falciparum lactate dehydrogenase (PfLDH) using two different qualitative double-antibody immunoassays. Our findings provide the first modern laboratory evidence of the presence of P. falciparum ancient proteins in the skeletal remains of four members of the Medici family. We confirm the clinical diagnosis of the court physicians, using modern methods. Finally, this study demonstrates that immunodetection can be successfully applied not only to mummified tissues but also to skeletal remains, thus opening new paths of investigation for large archaeological series.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gino Fornaciari
- Division of Paleopathology, History of Medicine and Bioethics, Department of Oncology, Transplants and Advanced Technologies in Medicine, University of Pisa, Via Roma 57, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
| | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
13
|
Monecke S, Monecke H, Monecke J. Modelling the black death. A historical case study and implications for the epidemiology of bubonic plague. Int J Med Microbiol 2009; 299:582-93. [PMID: 19560967 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmm.2009.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/25/2009] [Revised: 04/26/2009] [Accepted: 05/19/2009] [Indexed: 10/20/2022] Open
Abstract
We analysed a plague outbreak in the mining town of Freiberg in Saxony which started in May 1613 and ended in February 1614. This epidemic was selected for study because of the high quality of contemporary sources. It was possible to identify 1400 individual victims meaning that more than 10% of the population of the city perished. The outbreak was modelled by 9 differential equations describing flea, rat, and human populations. This resulted in a close fit to the historical records of this outbreak. An interesting implication of the model is that the introduction of even a small number of immune rats into an otherwise unchanged setting results in an abortive outbreak with very few human victims. Hence, the percentage of immune rats directly influences the magnitude of a human epidemic by diverting search activities of the fleas. Thus, we conclude that the spread of Rattus norvegicus, which might acquire partial herd immunity by exposure to soil- or water-borne Yersinia species due to its preference for wet habitats, contributed to the disappearance of Black Death epidemics from Europe in the 18th century. In order to prove whether or not the parameter values obtained by fitting a given outbreak are also applicable to other cases, we modelled the plague outbreak in Bombay 1905/06 using the same parameter values except for the number of humans as well as of immune and susceptible rats.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Stefan Monecke
- Institute for Medical Microbiology and Hygiene, Faculty of Medicine Carl Gustav Carus, Technical University of Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 74, D-01307 Dresden, Germany.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
14
|
Bianucci R, Rahalison L, Massa ER, Peluso A, Ferroglio E, Signoli M. Technical note: a rapid diagnostic test detects plague in ancient human remains: an example of the interaction between archeological and biological approaches (southeastern France, 16th-18th centuries). AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY 2008; 136:361-7. [PMID: 18350578 DOI: 10.1002/ajpa.20818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
A rapid diagnostic test (RDT) that detects Yersinia pestis F1 antigen was applied to 28 putative plague victims exhumed from seven burial sites in southeastern France dating to the 16th-18th centuries. Yersinia pestis F1 antigen was detected in 19 of the 28 (67.9%) samples. The 27 samples used as negative controls yielded negative results. Soil samples taken from archeological sites related to both positive and negative samples tested negative for F1 antigen. The detection threshold of the RDT for plague (0.5 ng/ml) is sufficient for a preliminary retrospective diagnosis of Y. pestis infection in human remains. The high specificity and sensitivity of the assay were confirmed. For two sites positive to F1 antigen (Lambesc and Marseille), Y. pestis-specific DNA (pla gene) had been identified previously by PCR-sequence based analyses. Specifically, the positive results for two samples, from the Lambesc cemetery and the Marseille pit burial, matched those previously reported using PCR. Independent analyses in Italy and France of different samples taken from the same burial sites (Draguignan and Martigues) led to the identification of both Y. pestis F1 antigen and Y. pestis pla and gplD genes. These data are clear evidence of the presence of Y. pestis in the ancient human remains examined in this study.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Raffaella Bianucci
- Università di Torino, Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell'Uomo, Laboratorio di Antropologia, 10123 Turin, Italy.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|