Overview
- Researchers analyzed dental pulp from 13 soldiers in a Vilnius mass grave and reported the results in Current Biology on Oct. 24.
- Genetic fragments of Salmonella enterica were found in four teeth and Borrelia recurrentis in two, indicating bloodstream infections at or near death.
- No traces of Rickettsia prowazekii or Bartonella quintana were detected in these samples, differing from earlier PCR-based findings at the same site.
- The team cautions that the small, nonrepresentative sample and dental-pulp focus mean only certain blood-borne pathogens are detectable and population-wide prevalence cannot be inferred.
- One B. recurrentis strain matched a lineage seen in Iron Age Britain, supporting a scenario of multiple overlapping infections alongside cold, hunger and exhaustion.