Did Christopher Columbus and his men introduce syphilis into Renaissance Europe, after contracting it during their voyage to the New World? Or does this pathogen have a much older history? A study [1] by Kristin Harper and colleagues published last week in PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases [2] lends support to what’s known as the Columbian theory of syphilis’s origin while suggesting that the non-sexually-transmitted subspecies arose earlier in the Old World.
The study spread throughout both mainstream press and science blogosphere alike, as did a related Expert Commentary [3], written by Connie Mulligan and colleagues, that challenged the methods and findings of the syphilis study.
Bora [4] made sure that “syphilis” was the buzzword of the day on ScienceBlogs, and three of his SciBlings’ amazing blogs are highlighted here:
Aetiology: Where did syphilis come from? [5]
Afarensis: Syphils: The View from Bioarchaeology [6]
Greg Laden: The Origin of Syphilis [7]
Jonathan Eisen also blogged [8] about the paper, and drew our attention to a CBC Radio interview with one of the study’s co-authors that you can listen to here [9].
Carl Zimmer wrote about the paper in Science [10], and mentions it on his blog [11].
The study was picked up by more than 100 outlets total. Some of the excellent coverage is highlighted here:
Daily Mail: How Columbus came home with more than he expected [12]
Forbes: Columbus Carried Syphilis From New World to Europe, Study Suggests [13]
Los Angeles Times: Add syphilis to Columbus' discoveries, study says [14]
National Geographic: Did Columbus Bring Syphilis to Europe? [15]
New Scientist: Columbus blamed for spread of syphilis [16]
New York Times: Genetic Study Bolsters Columbus Link to Syphilis [17]
Newsweek: American to Europe: Here, Have Some Syphilis [18]
Reuters: New study blames Columbus for syphilis spread [19]
Scientific American: Did Columbus Bring Syphilis to Europe? [20]
Telegraph: Columbus did bring syphilis from America [21]
Toronto Star: New twist on old scourge [22]
U.S. News & World Report: Columbus Carried Syphilis From New World to Europe, Study Suggests [23]
Wired News: The Real Discovery of Christopher Columbus: Syphilis [24]
The paper was also covered by Economist, Bloomberg, CBC News, CTV.ca, ABC News, MSNBC, Fox News, and, quite unfortunately, Rush Limbaugh [25].
Links:
[1] http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000148
[2] http://www.plosntds.org/
[3] http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0000184
[4] http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2008/01/new_and_exciting_in_plos_this.php
[5] http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2008/01/syphilis_from_columbus.php
[6] http://scienceblogs.com/afarensis/2008/01/22/syphilis_the_view_from_bioarch/
[7] http://scienceblogs.com/gregladen/2008/01/the_origin_of_syphilis.php
[8] http://phylogenomics.blogspot.com/2008/01/syphilis-origin-solved.html
[9] http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/archives/07-08/jan19.html
[10] http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/319/5861/272
[11] http://scienceblogs.com/loom/2008/01/22/fish_syphilis_and_love.php
[12] http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=508256&in_page_id=1770
[13] http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2008/01/14/hscout611682.html
[14] http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-sci-syphilis15jan15,0,205976.story?coll=la-home-center
[15] http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/01/080116-columbus-syphilis.html
[16] http://www.newscientist.com/channel/sex/dn13186-columbus-blamed-for-spread-of-syphilis-.html
[17] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/science/15syph.html?ref=science
[18] http://www.blog.newsweek.com/blogs/labnotes/archive/2008/01/14/american-to-europe-here-have-some-syphilis.aspx
[19] http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN1549465820080115
[20] http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=did-columbus-bring-syphilis-to-europe
[21] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/earth/2008/01/15/scisyp115.xml
[22] http://www.thestar.com/News/article/293970
[23] http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/healthday/080114/columbus-carried-syphilis-from-new-world-to-europe-study-suggests.htm
[24] http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/01/the-real-discov.html
[25] http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_011508/content/01125104.guest.html