New Research Publication in 'Nature: Ecology & Evolution'

Professor Noreen Tuross has contributed to a new research publication in 'Nature Ecology & Evolution' on the topic of Salmonella enterica genomes from victims of a major sixteenth-century epidemic in Mexico. Professor Tuross and colleagues Ashild J. Vagene, Alexander Herbig, Michael G. Campana, Nelly Robles Garcia, Christina Warriner, Susanna Sabin, Maria A. Spyrou, Aida Andrades Valtuena, Daniel Huson, Kirsten I. Bois, and Johannes Kraus were able to use a new metagenomic analysis tool to identify Salmonella enterica in individuals buried in an early contact era epidemic cemetery at Teposcolula-Yucundaa, Oaxaca in southern Mexico. This cemetery is linked, based on historical and archaeological evidence, to the 1545–1550 CE epidemic that affected large parts of Mexico. Using their findings, they propose that S. Paratyphi C be considered a strong candidate for the epidemic population decline during the 1545 outbreak at Teposcolula-Yucundaa.