Dutch Settlers at Voorzorg in Suriname Decimated by 1845 Epidemic: A Multifaceted Approach to Unravel Mystery about Etiologic Microbial Agent
Rattachement africain : nl, sr. Niveau de preuve : code pays fourni par la source.
Le résumé fourni par la source
Background. In 1845, an attempt at Dutch farmer colonization of the overseas colony of Suriname failed because within weeks of the arrival of 384 colonists, an outbreak occurred that killed half of them. The outbreak at plantation Voorzorg was identified as ‘gastric biliary fever’, which was later interpreted as typhoid fever. However, sparse data support this diagnosis. Herein, we took a multifaceted approach to characterize the outbreak and establish the likely microbiological cause. Methods. Archival research was combined with identification and excavation of a burial site, analysis of aDNA of skeletal remains as well as modelling of the outbreak on epidemiological findings. Results. A timeline of events constructed from archival records revealed that the 1845 febrile illness affected >95% of the 384 colonists, likely transmitted human-to-human and was characterized by fever, nausea, vomiting, in cases abundant often bloody diarrhea, and progressed into delirium and stupor (‘Typhus’). Within 1-2 weeks of symptom onset, half of the affected persons died (189 of 384) with overrepresentation from the young and elderly. A few postmortems had revealed multiple small, purulent colonic ulcerations. We discovered a burial ground and uncovered 17 skeletal remains presumed to be colonists. Subsequently, metagenomic testing did not reveal a pathogenic microorganism fitting the disease description, but typing mitochondrial DNA (possible in 15 of 17) showed that the skeletal remains sampled likely did not originate from Europe. Mathematical modelling of epidemic curves depicting cumulative mortality of those arriving by subsequent ships revealed that transmission characteristics of bacillary dysentery rather than typhoid fever fitted the epidemiological findings the best. Conclusion. A multifaceted approach revealed that the 1845 outbreak at Voorzorg among Dutch colonists was probably caused by bacillary dysentery and not typhoid fever. Likely, the high mortality was a consequence of dehydration that in tropical conditions particularly affected the young and elderly. This outbreak contributed to the failed colonization attempt.
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Le contrôle bibliographique ouvert
DOI retrouvé dans Crossref DOI retrouvé ; titre concordant.
- Titre Crossref
- Dutch Settlers at Voorzorg in Suriname Decimated by 1845 Epidemic: A Multifaceted Approach to Unravel Mystery about Etiologic Microbial Agent
- Date Crossref
- 01/01/2023
- Éditeur
- Knowledge Enterprise Journals
- Type
- journal-article
Ce recoupement confirme des métadonnées liées au DOI. Il ne confirme ni la méthode ni les conclusions de l’étude, et il ne compte pas comme une seconde source scientifique indépendante.
Où se fait cette recherche
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Leiden University Medical Center Dept of Infectious Diseases pays non établi dans la noticeOrganisme public
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National Institute for Public Health and the Environment Centre for Infectious Disease Control pays non établi dans la noticeStructure de recherche
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Archeologisch Diensten Centrum (Netherlands) pays non établi dans la noticeInstitution
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Netherlands Forensic Institute Present affiliation: Department of Human Biological Traces pays non établi dans la noticeStructure de recherche
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Anton de Kom University of Suriname pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
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ADC ArcheoProjecten pays non établi dans la noticeInstitution
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Faculty of Medical Sciences Dept of Biochemistry pays non établi dans la noticeUniversité ou école supérieure
Dept of Infectious Diseases — Leiden University Medical Center, Centre for Infectious Disease Control — National Institute for Public Health and the Environment et Archeologisch Diensten Centrum (Netherlands), avec 4 autres affiliations.
Une affiliation ne permet pas de déduire la nationalité d’un auteur.