Syphilis originated in the Americas, ancient DNA shows, but European colonialism spread it widely

Three skulls are shown in a museum exhibit. They all have pock-marks on their frontal bones. There are two signs that label them as people who had tertiary syphilis.

The outbreak of a mysterious disease ravaged Europe in the late 15th century, shortly after Christopher Columbus and his crew returned from the Americas. Experts have debated for centuries where this malady — now known as syphilis — originated. Now, new research into ancient genomes has finally provided an answer: It turns out, syphilis came from the Americas, not Europe.

"The data clearly support a root in the Americas for syphilis and its known relatives," study co-author Kirsten Bos, an archaeogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said in a statement. "Their introduction to Europe starting in the late 15th century is most consistent with the data."