Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
Archaeology Programme, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand.
Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2020 Nov 23;375(1812):20190583. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0583. Epub 2020 Oct 5.
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global health threat, infecting one-third of the world's population. Despite this prominence, the age, origin and spread of the disease have been topics of contentious debate. Molecular studies suggest that , the most common strain of TB infecting humans today, originated in Africa and from there spread into Europe and Asia. The strains most commonly found across the Pacific and the Americas today are most closely related to European strains, supporting a hypothesis that the disease only reached these regions relatively recently via European sailors or settlers. However, this hypothesis is inconsistent with palaeopathological evidence of TB-like lesions in human remains from across the Pacific that predate European contact. Similarly, genetic evidence from pre-European South American mummies challenges the notion of a European introduction of the disease into the Pacific. Here, we review the complex evidence for the age and origin of TB in the Pacific, and discuss key gaps in our knowledge and how these may be addressed. This article is part of the theme issue 'Insights into health and disease from ancient biomolecules'.
结核病（TB）是一个主要的全球健康威胁，感染了世界人口的三分之一。尽管如此，这种疾病的起源和传播一直是争议的话题。分子研究表明，目前感染人类的最常见的结核菌株起源于非洲，然后传播到欧洲和亚洲。目前在太平洋和美洲发现的最常见的菌株与欧洲菌株最为密切相关，这支持了一种假说，即这种疾病只是通过欧洲水手或定居者相对较近才到达这些地区的。然而，这种假说与太平洋地区人类遗骸中早于欧洲人接触的类似结核病病变的古病理学证据不一致。同样，来自欧洲人之前的南美木乃伊的遗传证据也挑战了这种疾病是由欧洲人引入太平洋的观点。在这里，我们回顾了太平洋地区结核病的年龄和起源的复杂证据，并讨论了我们知识中的关键差距以及如何解决这些差距。本文是“从古代生物分子看健康和疾病的见解”主题问题的一部分。
