Pre-European contact leprosy in the Americas and its current persistence
Résumé
Leprosy, primarily caused by Mycobacterium leprae , is considered a disease introduced into the Americas during European colonization. However, the recent discovery of a second pathogen causing leprosy, M. lepromatosis , mainly found in the Americas, challenges this view. Here, we show that M. lepromatosis infected humans in the Americas before European contact. By screening 389 ancient and 408 contemporary samples, we have expanded the genetic data available for the species. Phylogenetic analyses revealed distinct human-infecting clades of M. lepromatosis , with one dominating North America since colonial times. The presence of millennia-old strains in North and South America indicates M. lepromatosis may have been widespread during the Late Holocene, demonstrating M. lepromatosis leprosy has a long-standing history in the Americas before European arrival.
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Cite 10.48802/owey.9YsfbYxw Jeu de données Lopopolo, M., Rascovan, N., Del Papa, M., Lahiri, R., Malhi, R. S., Avanzi, C., de Flamingh, A., Tressieres, G., Iraeta-Orbegozo, M., Mitchell, J., Vera-Cabrera, L., Orlando, L., & Schroeder, H. (2025). Microbial sequencing of ancient human samples associated to the article ‘Uncovering pre-European contact leprosy in the Americas and its enduring persistence’ (Version 1.0) [Dataset]. OWEY. https://doi.org/10.48802/OWEY.9YSFBYXW
Ancient DNA data are accessible through the Owey platform hosted by Institut Pasteur
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Cite 10.5281/zenodo.15396306 Article Lopopolo, M., Rascovan, N., Fumey, J., Ponce Soto, G. Y., & Duchene, S. (2025). Uncovering pre-European contact leprosy in the Americas and its enduring persistence. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/ZENODO.15396306
The code used for bioinformatic analyses and supplementary tables are available through Zenodo