Columbus is not to blame for syphilis in Europe

Syphilis was widespread in central Europe even before Christopher Columbus’ famous voyage to America, say scientists who have identified several cases of the disease in Austria dating back to as early as 1320 AD.

The study suggests that Italian explorer Columbus himself cannot be blamed for introducing the sexually transmitted infection to Europe. “In 1495, a “new” disease spread throughout Europe: syphilis. Christopher Colum-bus was said to have brought this sexually transmitted disease back from his voyage to America,” researchers said.

At least, that has been the accepted theory up until now, researchers said. Using morphological and structural evidence, researchers from the Medical University of Vienna have now identified several cases of congenital syphilis dating back to as early as 1320 AD in skeletons from excavations at the cathedral square of St. Polten, Austria.

“The discovery clearly refutes the previous theory,” said study leaders Karl Grobschmidt and Fabian Kanz of MedUni Vienna. Congenital syphilis, which is passed from a pregnant mother to her unborn child, was primarily identified by changes to the teeth of skeletons from the 14th century.

“We found so-called Hutchinson’s teeth with central notches and converging edges and mulberry molars, which are characteristic signs of syphilis,” said Kanz and Grobschmidt.