Salmonella enterica from a soldier from the 1652 siege of Barcelona (Spain) supports historical transatlantic epidemic contacts

Abstract

Summary Ancient pathogen genomics is an emerging field allowing reconstruction of past epidemics. The demise of post-contact American populations may, at least in part, have been caused by paratyphoid fever brought by Europeans. We retrieved genome-wide data from two Spanish soldiers who were besieging the city of Barcelona in 1652, during the Reapers' War. Their ancestry derived from the Basque region and Sardinia, respectively, (at that time, this island belonged to the Spanish kingdom). Despite the proposed plague epidemic, we could not find solid evidence for the presence of the causative plague agent in these individuals. However, we retrieved from one individual a substantial fraction of the Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi C lineage linked to paratyphoid fever in colonial period Mexico. Our results support a growing body of evidence that Paratyphi C enteric fever was more prevalent in Europe and the Americas in the past than it is today.

Historic and Prehistoric Epidemics: An Overview of Sources Available for the Study of Ancient Pathogens

“…Lack of war injuries, a contemporary chronicle of a 'pestilence' suffered by both besiegers and besieged during an attack on Barcelona, Spain, in 1652, and the presence of both shallow graves as well as large pits with dozens hastily buried with their boots still on, led to the discovery of Salmonella enterica Paratyphi C DNA in one of the victims, suggesting enteric fever could have been the cause of the documented pestilence, and not Yersinia pestis, as assumed earlier [70]. A related S. enterica Paratyphi C strain had been identified before as the likely cause of an epidemic in colonial Mexico during 1545-1550 CE, where a local cemetery witnessed "catastrophic mortality", demonstrated by stacks of corpses, and an overrepresentation of adolescents and young adults [71,72].…”

“…A second important epidemic pathogen turned out to be Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi C and precursor lineages. Enteric fever epidemics due to S. Paratyphi C were seen in Bronze Age China, in medieval northern Europe and in 16 th century Mexico and Spain [70,[72][73][74]. Whereas plague is now limited to around ~100-3000 cases per year, infections caused by S. Typhi, S. Paratyphy A, B, and C, the only four of the ~2600 S. enterica serovars able to infect systemically, are still a major problem in low income countries, with S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A causing over 14 million cases annually [161,180].…”

Historic and Prehistoric Epidemics: An Overview of Sources Available for the Study of Ancient Pathogens

“…Lack of war injuries, a contemporary chronicle of a “pestilence” suffered by both besiegers and besieged during an attack on Barcelona, Spain, in 1652, and the presence of both shallow graves, as well as large pits with dozens hastily buried with their boots still on, led to the discovery of Salmonella enterica Paratyphi C DNA in one of the victims, suggesting enteric fever could have been the cause of the documented pestilence, and not Yersinia pestis , as previously assumed [ 74 ]. A related S. enterica Paratyphi C strain had earlier been identified as the likely cause of an epidemic in colonial Mexico during 1545–1550 CE, where a local cemetery witnessed “catastrophic mortality”, demonstrated by stacks of corpses, and an overrepresentation of adolescents and young adults [ 75 , 76 ].…”

“…A second important epidemic pathogen turned out to be Salmonella enterica serovar Paratyphi C and precursor lineages. Enteric fever epidemics due to S. Paratyphi C were seen in Bronze Age China, in medieval northern Europe, and in 16th century Mexico and Spain [ 74 , 76 , 77 , 78 ]. Whereas plague is now limited to around ~100–3000 cases per year, infections caused by S. Typhi and S. Paratyphy A, B, and C, the only four of the ~2600 S. enterica serovars able to infect systemically, are still a major problem in low income countries, with S. Typhi and S. Paratyphi A causing over 14 million cases annually [ 167 , 186 ].…”