Ancient bones show evidence of world's earliest 'human' infection.Byline: ANI London, August 6 (ANI): The analysis of 1.5 to 2.8 million-year-old vertebrae Vertebrae Bones in the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar regions of the body that make up the vertebral column. Vertebrae have a central foramen (hole), and their superposition makes up the vertebral canal that encloses the spinal cord. of Australopithecus africanus recovered in South Africa has revealed signs of a bacterial infection, which means it is the world's earliest human infection. "This is the most ancient case of an infectious disease in a hominin," said Ruggero D'Anastasio, a palaeoanthropologist at State University "Gabriele d'Annunzio" in Chieti, Italy, who diagnosed the skeleton with a disease called brucellosis brucellosis (br  'səlō`sĭs) or Bang's disease, infectious disease of farm animals that is sometimes transmitted to humans. .
First uncovered in the 1970s in the Sterkfontein caves, not far from Johannesburg, two of the vertebrae belonging to an older male are dotted with visible lesions. One study concluded that this damage was caused by ageing. According to a report in New Scientist, after collecting X-rays and scanning electron micrographs of the bones, D'Anastasio now contends that brucellosis better explains the lesions. Brucellosis causes a flu-like illness in humans, but if the bacteria reach muscles and bones, they tend to infect the same spinal vertebrae that are damaged in the Australopithecus bones. Other infections, like tuberculosis, also infect spinal bones, but they tend to be less discriminate and go after other vertebrae. D'Anastasio's team think ageing is an unlikely explanation for the damage for similar reasons. "I think it's more probable that these lesions could be due to an infectious disease, and I think brucellosis is the most probable infection," D'Anastasio said. It's impossible to determine how this individual contracted the disease, but contemporary patterns of infection suggest the bacteria probably came from an ungulate ungulate Any hoofed, herbivorous, quadruped, placental mammal in three or four orders: Artiodactyla, the even-toed ungulates (including pigs, camels, deer, and bovines); Perissodactyla, the odd-toed ungulates (including horses, tapirs, and rhinoceroses); Proboscidea . Humans usually contract the Brucella Brucella /Bru·cel·la/ (broo-sel´ah) a genus of schizomycetes (family Brucellaceae). B. abor´tus causes infectious abortion in cattle and is the most common cause of brucellosis in humans. B. bacteria from unpasteurised milk and cheese, however zebras, antelope and other South African fauna can carry a species that causes spontaneous abortions, Brucella abortus. This australopithecine aus·tra·lo·pith·e·cine n. Any of several extinct humanlike primates of the genus Australopithecus, known chiefly from Pleistocene fossil remains found in southern and eastern Africa. adj. may have acquired brucellosis by eating fetal tissue from a similar animal, according to D'Anastasio. "I think the consumption of meat was occasional in Australopithecus," he said. A chemical analysis of Australopithecus teeth also supports that conclusion. A team led by Matt Sponheimer, at the University of Colorado University of Colorado may refer to:
The team suggests that the grass signature was probably acquired through eating a herbivore herbivore: see carnivore. herbivore Animal adapted to subsist solely on plant tissues. Herbivores range from insects (e.g., aphids) to large mammals (e.g., elephants), but the term is most often applied to ungulates. . (ANI) Copyright 2009 Asian News International The Asian News International (ANI) agency provides multimedia news to China and 50 bureaus in India. It covers virtually all of South Asia since its foundation and presently claims, on its official website, to be the leading South Asia-wide news agency. (ANI) - All Rights Reserved. Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company |
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