Eighteenth-century genomes show that mixed infections were common at time of peak tuberculosis in Europe

• DOI: 10.1038/ncomms7717
• Publication Date: 2015-04-07T15:06:39Z
• Authors: Gemma L. Kay; Martin J. Sergeant; Zhemin Zhou; Jacqueline Z.-M. ...; Andrew Millard; Joshua Quick; Ildikó Szikossy; Ildikó Pap; Mark Spigelman; Nicholas J. Loman; Mark Achtman; Helen D. Donoghue; Mark J. Pallen
• Keywords: Lineage (genetic); Ancient DNA; Molecular Epidemiology

Abstract Tuberculosis (TB) was once a major killer in Europe, but it is unclear how the strains and patterns of infection at ‘peak TB’ relate to what we see today. Here describe 14 genome sequences M. tuberculosis , representing 12 distinct genotypes, obtained from human remains eighteenth-century Hungary using metagenomics. All our historic genotypes belong Lineage 4. Bayesian phylogenetic dating, based on samples with well-documented dates, places most recent common ancestor this lineage late Roman period. We find that bodies yielded more than one genotype document an intimate epidemiological link between infections two long-dead individuals. Our results suggest metagenomic approaches usefully inform detection characterization historical contemporary infections.