DNA analysis reveals what really killed Napoleon's army
EL.KZ Информационно-познавательный портал
At least 300,000 men died during Napoleon’s retreat from Russia - now the latest genetic techniques have identified two pathogens that may have contributed to some of the deaths, El.kz citesnewscientist.com.
When Napoleon’s half-million-strong army retreated from Russia in 1812, around half the men were wiped out by disease, starvation and the extreme cold. Now, state-of-the-art DNA analysis has revealed which pathogens contributed to the catastrophe.
In the summer of 1812, Napoleon gathered as many as 600,000 troops for his invasion of Russia. However, the Tsar’s forces had abandoned Moscow and emptied the city of supplies, forcing Napoleon to retreat to the Polish border for the winter. Between October and December 1812, at least 300,000 French soldiers perished from starvation, cold and disease.
Recent DNA analysis of soldiers' remains from Napoleon's 1812 Russian campaign has revealed that paratyphoid fever and louse-borne relapsing fever were likely significant contributors to the army's high mortality rate, rather than typhus or trench fever, as previously thought. Researchers used advanced metagenomic analysis to identify these pathogens from the teeth of soldiers buried in Vilnius, Lithuania
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