title: Evidence for tuberculosis in 18th/19th century slaves in Anse Sainte-Marguerite (Guadeloupe - French Western Indies).
abstract: During the American colonization in the 18th and 19th century, Africans were captured and shipped to America. Harsh living and working conditions often led to chronic diseases and high mortality rates. Slaves in the Caribbean were forced to work mainly on sugar plantations. They were buried in cemeteries like Anse Sainte-Marguerite on the isle of Grande-Terre (Guadeloupe) which was examined by archaeologists and physical anthropologists. Morphological studies on osseous remains of 148 individuals revealed 15 cases with signs for bone tuberculosis and a high frequency of periosteal reactions which indicates early stages of the disease. 11 bone samples from these cemeteries were analysed for ancient DNA. The samples were extracted with established procedures and examined for the cytoplasmic multicopy β-actin gene and Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNA (IS 6110) by PCR. An amplification product for M. tuberculosis with the size of 123 bp was obtained. Sequencing confirmed the result. This study shows evidence of M. tuberculosis complex DNA in a Caribbean slave population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland. Electronic address: sandra.loesch@irm.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lösch
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland; Benedictus Hospital Tutzing, Germany.
authors.forename: Mi-Ra
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire d'Anthropologie biologique Paul Broca, Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, France; PACEA-A3P, Université Bordeaux1, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Dutour
authors.affiliation: PACEA-A3P, Université Bordeaux1, Talence, France.
authors.forename: Patrice
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Courtaud
authors.affiliation: Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, EURAC, Bolzano, Italy.
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Maixner
authors.affiliation: INRAP GSO, PACEA-A3P, Gourbeyre, Guadeloupe, France.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Romon
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Intégrative de la Cellule I2BC CEA-CNRS-Université Paris-Saclay, UMR9198, Bât. 400 F-91405 ORSAY-Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sola
authors.affiliation: Institute for Mummies and the Iceman, EURAC, Bolzano, Italy.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zink
mesh_terms: D000199:Actins / Q000235:genetics; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D044383:Black People / Q000235:genetics; D002648:Child; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics; D063948:Enslaved Persons / Q000266:history*; D005260:Female; D019430:Guadeloupe; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000235:genetics; D021141:Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques; D010164:Paleopathology; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014394:Tuberculosis, Osteoarticular / Q000266:history*; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000199:Actins; D004269:DNA, Bacterial
keywords: Ancient DNA; Bones; Guadeloupe; M. tuberculosis; Slaves