| dna examination of ancient dental pulp incriminates typhoid fever as a probable cause of the plague of athens. | until now, in the absence of direct microbiological evidence, the cause of the plague of athens has remained a matter of debate among scientists who have relied exclusively on thucydides' narrations to introduce several possible diagnoses. a mass burial pit, unearthed in the kerameikos ancient cemetery of athens and dated back to the time of the plague outbreak (around 430 bc), has provided the required skeletal material for the investigation of ancient microbial dna. | 2006 | 16412683 |
| the plague of athens: epidemiology and paleopathology. | in 430 bc, a plague struck the city of athens, which was then under siege by sparta during the peloponnesian war (431-404 bc). in the next 3 years, most of the population was infected, and perhaps as many as 75,000 to 100,000 people, 25% of the city's population, died. the athenian general and historian thucydides left an eye-witness account of this plague and a detailed description to allow future generations to identify the disease should it break out again. because of the importance of thucyd ... | 2009 | 19787658 |
| ancient typhoid epidemic reveals possible ancestral strain of salmonella enterica serovar typhi. | in contrast to other serotypes of salmonella enterica, s. typhi is exclusively adapted to human hosts. recently, s. typhi was identified in ancient skeletal material, thereby incriminating typhoid fever for the plague of athens. since, according to thucydides' report, animals were also affected by the disease, a working hypothesis is constituted that the causative agent of the plague might be the anticipated original strain of s. typhi, purportedly capable of infecting animals as well as humans. ... | 2007 | 16765652 |