Microbial Genomics of Ancient Plagues and Outbreaks.
The recent use of next-generation sequencing methods to investigate historical disease outbreaks has provided us with an unprecedented ability to address important and long-standing questions in epidemiology, pathogen evolution, and human history. In this review, we present major findings that illustrate how microbial genomics has provided new insights into the nature and etiology of infectious diseases of historical importance, such as plague, tuberculosis, and leprosy. Sequenced isolates collected from archaeological remains also provide evidence for the timing of historical evolutionary events as well as geographic spread of these pathogens. Elucidating the genomic basis of virulence in historical diseases can provide relevant information on how we can effectively understand the emergence and re-emergence of infectious diseases today and in the future.
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Boston, MA 02115, USA; University of New Hampshire, Department of Molecular, Cellular and Biomedical Sciences, Durham, NH 03824, USA. Electronic address: cheryl.andam@unh.edu.
Cheryl P
CP
Andam
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Colin J
CJ
Worby
Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Qiuzhi
Q
Chang
Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, Center for Conservation Genomics, 3001 Connecticut Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20008, USA. Electronic address: campanam@si.edu.
Michael G
MG
Campana
D003141:Communicable Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000266:history; D000072441:DNA, Ancient; D004196:Disease Outbreaks / Q000266:history; D058872:Epidemics / Q000266:history; D016680:Genome, Bacterial; D023281:Genomics; D059014:High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing / Q000379:methods; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D010930:Plague / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000266:history / Q000382:microbiology; D014774:Virulence; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity
D000072441:DNA, Ancient
ancient DNA; epidemic; genome; genomics; pathogen; plague