Malaria Caused 'Widespread Death' In Ancient Rome: DNA Evidence Reveals That A ‘Virulent Form Of Malaria-Causing Parasite’ Hit Ancient Rome 2,000 years ago [VIDEO]

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A careful examination of the remains from almost 2,000 years ago has revealed traces of malaria, hinting that a severe form of the disease was plaguing the citizens of ancient Roman Empire. Analysis of remains from three separate Italian cemeteries dating back to between the 1st and 3rd century CE in Isola Sacra, Velia and Vagnari show traces of a virulent form of the malaria-causing parasite from as far back as the 1st century CE.

A team of scientists in McMaster University discovered DNA evidence that malaria had existed thousands of years ago. They said the findings provide more information about the evolution of the disease, with a very high death toll in ancient Roman Empire.

It was previously thought that Malaria originated from Africa and the first modern case of the disease was 136 years ago in Constantine, Algeria. But now, the new study published in the journal of Current Biology shows that the parasite existed before that.

The scientists were able to recover DNA fragments from the teeth of almost 60 adults and skeleton of 10 children buried in three separate Italian cemeteries. The mitochondrial genome present is then used to identify the particular malaria species that infected the ancient Romans. They found evidence of malaria in the remains of two adults, dating from the period of the Roman Empire, according to CNN.

The new DNA evidence adds more weight to the theory, pointing to a dangerous form of the disease which could have killed swathes of people. The analysis also revealed that it was the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum which is the same as the one carried by mosquitoes at the present time.

A geneticist and the director of McMaster's Ancient DNA Centre who led the research, Hendrik Poinar said that Malaria was likely a significant historical pathogen that caused widespread death in ancient Rome. He continued to say:

"What I think is interesting about them is that they are from two different localities suggesting that, you know most people thought, 'oh it must be the port cities if it occurred because it is where you have immigrants coming in and it must be coming from Africa because that is where malaria is endemic today."

He added that there are situations where immigrants are blamed on the arrival of infection, but in this case the parasite is found in the midland in a rural centre, far away from any coastal centres, along a major route, so it certainly would have had to access to trade coming from either side of the peninsula.

Malaria is a fatal mosquito-borne illness. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), P. falciparum remains a killer throughout sub-Saharan Africa and it is the most deadly form of Plasmodium parasite responsible for the largest number of malaria-related deaths around the world.

P. falciparum causes hundreds of thousands of deaths each year, the majority of which are children under the age of five. There are 214 million cases of malaria reported in 2015 and at least 430,000 people died of the disease in the same year.

Stephanie Marciniak, a former post doc at McMasters and now at Pennsylvania State University, said that:

 "There is extensive written evidence describing fevers that sound like malaria in ancient Greek and Roman empire, although the specific specie responsible is unknown. Our data confirm that the species was likely Plasmodium falciparum and that it affected people in different ecological and cultural environments."

Malaria has spread throughout southern Italy for centuries, including the virulent form of the disease. At the end of the 19th century, the disease was responsible for an estimated 20,000 deaths a year, until the parliament focused on eradicating the mosquitoes which carry the bug and distributing the anti malarial quinine. Findings are published in the journal of Current Biology.