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New Study Identifies Louse-Borne Diseases That Ravaged Napoleon's Army
December 15, 2005Using dental pulp extracted from the teeth of soldiers who died during Napoleon's disastrous retreat through Russia in 1812, a new study finds DNA evidence that epidemic typhus and trench fever ran rampant among the French Grand Army. The study, published in the Jan. 1 issue of The Journal of Infectious Diseases, now available online, identifies the specific species of louse-borne pathogens that were a major cause of death among the remains of the retreating army.
Napoleon marched into Russia in the summer of 1812 with a half-million soldiers. Only a few thousand staggered out again, victims of war, weather, and disease. Twenty-five thousand arrived in Vilnius that winter, but only 3,000 lived to continue the retreat. The dead were buried in mass graves.
Construction work in 2001 unearthed one such grave, containing between 2,000 and 3,000 corpses. Didier Raoult, MD, PhD, from the Université de la Méditerranée in Marseille, France, and colleagues identified body segments of five lice in a forensic excavation of two kilograms of earth containing fragments of bone and remnants of clothing. Three of the lice carried DNA from Bartonella quintana, which causes the disease commonly known as trench fever, which afflicted many soldiers in World War I.
The team analyzed dental pulp from 72 teeth, taken from the remains of 35 soldiers. Dental pulp from seven soldiers contained DNA from B. quintana, and pulp from three soldiers contained DNA from Rickettsia prowazakii, which causes epidemic typhus. Testing for other organisms gave negative results, and other appropriate controls were negative.
In all, 29 percent of the soldiers tested had evidence of either R. prowazkii or B. quintana infection, suggesting that louse-born diseases such as typhus and trench fever may have been a major factor contributing to Napoleon's retreat from Russia. The authors conclude that searching for DNA of infectious agents in dental pulp may become an important tool for investigating the history of communicable diseases.
Infectious Diseases Society of America
The team analyzed dental pulp from 72 teeth, taken from the remains of 35 soldiers. Dental pulp from seven soldiers contained DNA from B. quintana, and pulp from three soldiers contained DNA from Rickettsia prowazakii, which causes epidemic typhus. Testing for other organisms gave negative results, and other appropriate controls were negative.
In all, 29 percent of the soldiers tested had evidence of either R. prowazkii or B. quintana infection, suggesting that louse-born diseases such as typhus and trench fever may have been a major factor contributing to Napoleon's retreat from Russia. The authors conclude that searching for DNA of infectious agents in dental pulp may become an important tool for investigating the history of communicable diseases.
Infectious Diseases Society of America
Napoleon News and Current Napoleon Events RSSNew mushroom study shows the power of energy density
Preliminary research, led by Dr. Lawrence Cheskin, MD, Director of John Hopkins Weight Management Center, suggests increasing intake of low-energy density foods, specifically mushrooms, in place of high-energy-density foods, like lean ground beef, is a strategy for preventing or treating obesity.
Starfish Strike at Coral Kingdom
Outbreaks of the notorious crown of thorns starfish now threaten the "coral triangle" - the richest center of coral reef biodiversity on Earth.
Starfish outbreak threatens corals
Outbreaks of the notorious crown of thorns starfish now threaten the "coral triangle," the richest center of coral reef biodiversity on Earth, according to recent surveys by the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society and ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies.
Ship excavation sheds light on Napoleon's attack on the Holy Land
Which navy commissioned the boat that sunk off the coast of Acre 200 years ago, which battles was it involved in and how did it end up at the bottom of the sea? The recent findings of marine archaeologists at the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies of the University of Haifa may provide the answers to these questions.
Spinal cord bridge bypasses injury to restore mobility
The body's spinal cord is like a super highway of nerves. When an injury occurs, the body's policing defenses put up a roadblock in the form of a scar to prevent further injury, but it stops all neural traffic from moving forward.
Researchers appeal for new regulations to save coral reefs from live fish trade
Researchers are calling for tighter controls on the live reef fish trade, a growing threat to coral reefs, in letters to the international journal Science.
Secrets of the deep to be revealed - New Centre for Maritime Archaeology founded at Oxford
Oxford University researchers will be able to get first-hand experience working on some of the most important underwater excavations being carried out today, following the creation of the Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology. An agreement between the University, the Hilti Foundation, and the Institut Européen d'Archéologie Sous-Marine (IEASM) will be signed today, following a lecture in Oxford by French Maritime Archaeologist Franck Goddio, to establish the new Centre within the School of Archaeology. Throughout time the sea has been a crucial factor in linking disparate communities together. Maritime Archaeology embraces a range of subject areas - including ancient technolog
Pharoah`s ears
"Three years ago, a mummy was unrolled in London, and in its hand was a small bag of Wheat. Some grains of it were sown and vegetated. Its produce has again been sown . . . and has produced an average of 38 ears or spikes for each grain sown. To be sold in packets of 10 grains each at £1 per packet..." In 1843, when The Gardeners` Chronicle ran this ad, the public was crazy about ancient Egypt. And nothing was more fascinating than the notion that "mummy wheat", grain discovered in the tombs of kings-often in model granaries like this one-would spring to life after thousands of years. At £1 a packet, worth £60 today, people were paying for something more than a few stalks o
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