Malaria, one of the world's deadliest infectious diseases, is caused by several species of single-celled parasites that are transmitted via the bite of infectedmosquitoes. Despite major control and eradication efforts, nearly half of the world's population still lives in regions where they are at risk of contracting malaria, and the World Health Organization estimates that malaria causes nearly 250 million infections and more than 600,000 deaths each year.
These virulent cases were found in non-local male individuals of diverse Mediterranean origins, who were likely soldiers recruited from northern Italy, Spain, and other Mediterranean regions to fight in the Hapsburg Army of Flanders during the 80 Years' War.
"For the first time, we are able to explore the ancient diversity of parasites from regions like Europe, where malaria is now eradicated," says senior author Johannes Krause, Director of Archaeogenetics at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology."We see how mobility and population displacement spread malaria in the past, just as modern globalization makes malaria-free countries and regions vulnerable to reintroduction today.
Infectious Diseases HIV And AIDS Pests And Parasites Nature Evolutionary Biology Ancient Civilizations Anthropology Fossils
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