Geographically dispersed zoonotic tuberculosis in pre-contact South American human populations

Åshild J. Vågene (), Tanvi P. Honap (), Kelly M. Harkins, Michael S. Rosenberg, Karen Giffin, Felipe Cárdenas-Arroyo, Laura Paloma Leguizamón, Judith Arnett, Jane E. Buikstra, Alexander Herbig, Johannes Krause (), Anne C. Stone () and Kirsten I. Bos ()
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Åshild J. Vågene: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Tanvi P. Honap: Arizona State University
Kelly M. Harkins: Arizona State University
Michael S. Rosenberg: Arizona State University
Karen Giffin: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Felipe Cárdenas-Arroyo: Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH)
Laura Paloma Leguizamón: Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICANH)
Judith Arnett: Arizona State University
Jane E. Buikstra: Arizona State University
Alexander Herbig: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Johannes Krause: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
Anne C. Stone: Arizona State University
Kirsten I. Bos: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Previous ancient DNA research has shown that Mycobacterium pinnipedii, which today causes tuberculosis (TB) primarily in pinnipeds, infected human populations living in the coastal areas of Peru prior to European colonization. Skeletal evidence indicates the presence of TB in several pre-colonial South and North American populations with minimal access to marine resources— a scenario incompatible with TB transmission directly from infected pinnipeds or their tissues. In this study, we investigate the causative agent of TB in ten pre-colonial, non-coastal individuals from South America. We reconstruct M. pinnipedii genomes (10- to 15-fold mean coverage) from three contemporaneous individuals from inland Peru and Colombia, demonstrating the widespread dissemination of M. pinnipedii beyond the coast, either through human-to-human and/or animal-mediated routes. Overall, our study suggests that TB transmission in the pre-colonial era Americas involved a more complex transmission pathway than simple pinniped-to-human transfer.

Date: 2022
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DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28562-8

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