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

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

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

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.

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,

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.