title: Brief communication: evidence of Bartonella quintana infections in skeletons of a historical mass grave in Kassel, Germany.
abstract: In 2008, a mass grave was found on the grounds of the University of Kassel, Germany. Historians hypothesized that the individuals died in a typhoid fever epidemic in winter 1813/14. To test this hypothesis, the bones were investigated on the presence of specific DNA of pathogens linked to the historical diagnosis oftyphoid fever. It was possible to prove the specific DNA of Bartonella quintana in three individuals, suggesting that their cause of death is linked to an epidemic background.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, Department of Historical Anthropology and Human Ecology, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Buergerstraße 50, 37073 Goettingen, Germany. pgrumbk@gwdg.de
authors.forename: Philipp V
authors.initials: PV
authors.lastname: Grumbkow
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zipp
authors.forename: Verena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Seidenberg
authors.forename: Lars
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fehren-Schmitz
authors.forename: Volkhard A J
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Kempf
authors.forename: Uwe
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Gross
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hummel
mesh_terms: D018413:Bartonella quintana / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D001483:Base Sequence; D055699:Cemeteries; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis; D058872:Epidemics / Q000266:history; D005269:Femur / Q000382:microbiology*; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D006811:Humerus / Q000382:microbiology*; D008889:Military Personnel; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010164:Paleopathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014205:Trench Fever / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000266:history* / Q000382:microbiology; D014435:Typhoid Fever / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D004269:DNA, Bacterial