Possible cause of early colonial-era Mexican epidemic identified

(Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History) Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Harvard University and the Mexican National Institute of Anthropology and History have used new methods in ancient DNA research to identify Salmonella enterica Paratyphi C, a pathogen that causes enteric fever, in the skeletons of victims of the 1545-1550 cocoliztli epidemic in Mexico, identifying a possible cause of this devastating colonial epidemic, as published in Nature Ecology and Evolution.

from EurekAlert! - Social and Behavioral Science http://ift.tt/2B32rIH