History of cholera sought in Italian graveyard

Archaeologists are filtering through an ancient graveyard in the Tuscany region of Italy in search of Virbrio cholera DNA to piece together the bacterium’s history, according to a press release.

“If we found the DNA, we could see how cholera has evolved and compare it to what the bacteria is like today,” Clark Spencer Larsen, PhD, professor of anthropology at The Ohio State University, said in a press release. “That’s the first step to possibly finding a cure.”

Several cemeteries surrounding the site, the Badia Pozzeveri church, contain human remains from various centuries. Among the remains are those of victims from the Black Death pandemic during the mid 1300s, but Larsen and colleagues are focusing on a section that holds remains from a global cholera epidemic that occurred in the 1850s.

The bodies of the cholera victims were covered in lime before burial in what researchers believe was an attempt to prevent the further spread of disease, according to the release. The bones and surrounding soil were preserved from the lime and will be examined for bacteria DNA, which could reveal more information about the bacterium and cholera.

“To our knowledge, these are the best preserved remains of cholera victims of this time period ever found,” Larsen said.

The project began in 2010 when researchers and students from the site’s local community, The Ohio State University and the University of Pisa combined their efforts. The group also founded The Field School in Medieval Archaeology and Bioarchaeology, a program that trains students in archaeological and bioarchaeological fields and laboratory techniques.

About 20 to 30 human remains have been excavated, according to the release.