Evidence for louse-transmitted diseases in soldiers of Napoleon's Grand Army in Vilnius.
BACKGROUND
Many soldiers in Napoleon's Grand Army died of infectious diseases during its retreat from Russia. Because soldiers were commonly infested with body lice, it has been speculated that louse-borne infectious diseases, such as epidemic typhus (caused by Rickettsia prowazekii), were common.


METHODS
We investigated this possibility during recent excavations of a mass grave of Napoleon's soldiers in Vilnius, Lithuania. Segments of 5 body lice, identified morphologically and by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification and sequencing, were found in earth from the grave that also contained fragments of soldiers' uniforms.


RESULTS
DNA of Bartonella quintana (the agent of trench fever) was identified by PCR and sequencing in 3 of the lice. Similarly, PCR and sequencing of dental pulp from the remains of 35 soldiers revealed DNA of B. quintana in 7 soldiers and DNA of R. prowazekii in 3 other soldiers.


CONCLUSIONS
Our results show that louse-borne infectious diseases affected nearly one-third of Napoleon's soldiers buried in Vilnius and indicate that these diseases might have been a major factor in the French retreat from Russia.
Raoult
Didier
D
Unite des Rickettsies, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) Unite Mixte de Recherche (UMR) 6020, Universite de la Mediterranee, Faculte de Medecine, Marseille, France. Didier.Raoult@medecine.univ-mrs.fr
Dutour
Olivier
O
Houhamdi
Linda
L
Jankauskas
Rimantas
R
Fournier
Pierre-Edouard
PE
Ardagna
Yann
Y
Drancourt
Michel
M
Signoli
Michel
M
La
Vu Dang
VD
Macia
Yves
Y
Aboudharam
Gerard
G
D000818:Animals; D018413:Bartonella quintana / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001483:Base Sequence; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D003782:Dental Pulp / Q000382:microbiology; D005602:France / Q000453:epidemiology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D010373:Lice Infestations / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history*; D008097:Lithuania / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008889:Military Personnel / Q000266:history*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010161:Paleodontology; D010374:Pediculus / Q000382:microbiology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012283:Rickettsia prowazekii / Q000145:classification / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D014205:Trench Fever / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history*; D014438:Typhus, Epidemic Louse-Borne / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000266:history*
D004269:DNA, Bacterial