In the spring of 1495, a mysterious illness broke out, interrupting the Italian campaign of Charles VIII of France. The […]

When a mysterious flesh-rotting disease broke out in Europe in 1495, two years after Christopher Columbus returned from the Americas, suspicion fell on his crew.

Paleogenomics has finally solved a question that has puzzled researchers for decades: Where did syphilis come from?

In spring 1495, the Italian campaign of Charles VIII of France was interrupted by an intense outbreak of an apparently unknown illness—a disease of high mortality that quickly engulfed the whole of Europe and left its survivors with life-changing impairments to their bodies and minds.

For centuries, scientists have disputed the origins of syphilis. A new study of ancient DNA supports an American origin for syphilis, before Columbus arrived.

The implications of this research are manifold. The study paints a grim picture of colonialism’s unintended consequences. While European explorers brought smallpox, measles, and other deadly diseases to the Americas, syphilis may have been the New World’s equally devastating gift in return.

New research on ancient DNA traces syphilis origins to the Americas, shedding light on the 15th-century outbreak in Europe.

In the spring of 1495, the Italian campaign of Charles VIII of France was interrupted by an intense outbreak of an unknown disease that caused extremely high mortality rates and quickly spread throughout Europe,

Christopher Columbus returned with the unwelcome souvenir after his travels in the Americas, new research claims, causing a serious outbreak of the killer illness

A new study published in the journal Nature provides compelling evidence that syphilis originated in the Americas and spread globally through European colonization.