Mass burial genomics reveals outbreak of enteric paratyphoid fever in the Late Medieval trade city Lübeck

Magdalena Haller; Kimberly Callan; Julian Susat; Anna Lena Flux; Alexander Immel; Andre Franke; Alexander Herbig; Johannes Krause; Anne Kupczok; Gerhard Fouquet; Susanne Hummel; Dirk Rieger; Almut Nebel; Ben Krause-Kyora

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102419

Mass burial genomics reveals outbreak of enteric paratyphoid fever in the Late Medieval trade city Lübeck

Magdalena Haller, Kimberly Callan, Julian Susat, Anna Lena Flux, Alexander Immel, Andre Franke, Alexander Herbig, Johannes Krause, Anne Kupczok, Gerhard Fouquet, Susanne Hummel, Dirk Rieger, Almut Nebel, Ben Krause-Kyora^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Bioinformatics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

Medieval Europe was repeatedly affected by outbreaks of infectious diseases, some of which reached epidemic proportions. A Late Medieval mass burial next to the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital in Lübeck (present-day Germany) contained the skeletal remains of more than 800 individuals who had presumably died from infectious disease. From 92 individuals, we screened the ancient DNA extracts for the presence of pathogens to determine the cause of death. Metagenomic analysis revealed evidence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Paratyphi C, suggesting an outbreak of enteric paratyphoid fever. Three reconstructed S. Paratyphi C genomes showed close similarity to a strain from Norway (1200 CE). Radiocarbon dates placed the disease outbreak in Lübeck between 1270 and 1400 cal CE, with historical records indicating 1367 CE as the most probable year. The deceased were of northern and eastern European descent, confirming Lübeck as an important trading center of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic region.

Original language	English
Article number	102419
Journal	iScience
Volume	24
Issue number	5
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2021.102419
Publication status	Published - 21 May 2021

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10.1016/j.isci.2021.102419Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

https://edepot.wur.nl/554717Licence: CC BY-NC-ND

Metagenomic Screening of ancient DNA from a Late Medieval mass burial site in Lübeck, Northern Germany, revealed occurence of S. Paratyphi C.
Haller, M. (Creator), Callan, K. (Creator), Susat, J. (Creator), Flux, A. L. (Creator), Immel, A. (Creator), Franke, A. (Creator), Herbig, A. (Creator), Krause, J. (Creator), Kupczok, A. (Creator), Fouquet, G. (Creator), Hummel, S. (Creator), Rieger, D. (Creator), Nebel, A. (Creator) & Krause-Kyora, B. (Creator), Kiel University, 1 Mar 2021
https://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/browser/view/PRJEB41353
Dataset

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title = "Mass burial genomics reveals outbreak of enteric paratyphoid fever in the Late Medieval trade city L{\"u}beck",

abstract = "Medieval Europe was repeatedly affected by outbreaks of infectious diseases, some of which reached epidemic proportions. A Late Medieval mass burial next to the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital in L{\"u}beck (present-day Germany) contained the skeletal remains of more than 800 individuals who had presumably died from infectious disease. From 92 individuals, we screened the ancient DNA extracts for the presence of pathogens to determine the cause of death. Metagenomic analysis revealed evidence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Paratyphi C, suggesting an outbreak of enteric paratyphoid fever. Three reconstructed S. Paratyphi C genomes showed close similarity to a strain from Norway (1200 CE). Radiocarbon dates placed the disease outbreak in L{\"u}beck between 1270 and 1400 cal CE, with historical records indicating 1367 CE as the most probable year. The deceased were of northern and eastern European descent, confirming L{\"u}beck as an important trading center of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic region.",

author = "Magdalena Haller and Kimberly Callan and Julian Susat and Flux, {Anna Lena} and Alexander Immel and Andre Franke and Alexander Herbig and Johannes Krause and Anne Kupczok and Gerhard Fouquet and Susanne Hummel and Dirk Rieger and Almut Nebel and Ben Krause-Kyora",

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AU - Haller, Magdalena

AU - Callan, Kimberly

AU - Susat, Julian

AU - Flux, Anna Lena

AU - Immel, Alexander

AU - Franke, Andre

AU - Herbig, Alexander

AU - Krause, Johannes

AU - Kupczok, Anne

AU - Fouquet, Gerhard

AU - Hummel, Susanne

AU - Rieger, Dirk

AU - Nebel, Almut

AU - Krause-Kyora, Ben

PY - 2021/5/21

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N2 - Medieval Europe was repeatedly affected by outbreaks of infectious diseases, some of which reached epidemic proportions. A Late Medieval mass burial next to the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital in Lübeck (present-day Germany) contained the skeletal remains of more than 800 individuals who had presumably died from infectious disease. From 92 individuals, we screened the ancient DNA extracts for the presence of pathogens to determine the cause of death. Metagenomic analysis revealed evidence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Paratyphi C, suggesting an outbreak of enteric paratyphoid fever. Three reconstructed S. Paratyphi C genomes showed close similarity to a strain from Norway (1200 CE). Radiocarbon dates placed the disease outbreak in Lübeck between 1270 and 1400 cal CE, with historical records indicating 1367 CE as the most probable year. The deceased were of northern and eastern European descent, confirming Lübeck as an important trading center of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic region.

AB - Medieval Europe was repeatedly affected by outbreaks of infectious diseases, some of which reached epidemic proportions. A Late Medieval mass burial next to the Heiligen-Geist-Hospital in Lübeck (present-day Germany) contained the skeletal remains of more than 800 individuals who had presumably died from infectious disease. From 92 individuals, we screened the ancient DNA extracts for the presence of pathogens to determine the cause of death. Metagenomic analysis revealed evidence of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Paratyphi C, suggesting an outbreak of enteric paratyphoid fever. Three reconstructed S. Paratyphi C genomes showed close similarity to a strain from Norway (1200 CE). Radiocarbon dates placed the disease outbreak in Lübeck between 1270 and 1400 cal CE, with historical records indicating 1367 CE as the most probable year. The deceased were of northern and eastern European descent, confirming Lübeck as an important trading center of the Hanseatic League in the Baltic region.

U2 - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102419

DO - 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102419

M3 - Article

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JO - iScience

JF - iScience

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M1 - 102419

ER -

Mass burial genomics reveals outbreak of enteric paratyphoid fever in the Late Medieval trade city Lübeck

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Metagenomic Screening of ancient DNA from a Late Medieval mass burial site in Lübeck, Northern Germany, revealed occurence of S. Paratyphi C.

Cite this