Researchers have found tuberculosis bacteria in 200-year-old human remains. The researchers say the discovery is surprising. The remains came from a Hungarian church where wealthy Europeans were buried. Today, tuberculosis affects mostly poor people. The finding shows how the deadly lung disease has changed over time.

研究人员在一具200年历史人类遗体中发现结核杆菌。研究人员说，这一发现是非常令人惊讶的。这些遗体来自一个埋葬富有的欧洲人的匈牙利教堂。当今时代，受结核病影响的人群主要是贫困人口。这一发现展现了致命性肺部疾病的时间变化史。

Today, Tuberculosis -- or TB -- mostly affects poor people or those already infected with the AIDS virus. Many TB patients live in the developing world. TB rarely affects wealthy people in developed countries.

今天，肺结核或者结核的主要感染人群为贫困人口或者已经感染艾滋病毒的人群。许多结核病患者来自发展中国家。结核病很少影响到发达国家的富人人群。

But the situation was different in Europe 250 years ago. The researchers found that in the 18th century, wealthy Europeans also suffered from TB. Sometimes the Europeans even had more than one kind of the disease.

但是250年前的欧洲地区情形跟现在却是不一样的。研究人员发现在18世纪，欧洲人同样受结核病的困扰，有时候欧洲人甚至患有多种结核病。

A report in the journal "Nature Communications" describes the findings. It says the researchers examined the remains of 26 people. Their bodies were kept at the Dominican Church in Vacs, Hungary. The remains were mummified – that is, they had not broken down.

一份来自《自然通讯》期刊上的报道对这一研究进行了描述。该报道称研究人员对26具人类遗体进行了检查。这些遗体以干尸(木乃伊)的方式被保存在匈牙利的多米尼加教堂，从来没有人打开过。

The researchers say 8 of the 26 bodies had signs of tuberculosis bacteria. In fact, researchers were able to identify 14 different TB genomes among the remains. Five of the mummies were infected with more than one kind of TB.

研究人员说这26具遗体中有8具遗体显示曾有肺部结核菌感染迹象。事实上，研究人员能够在遗体中分辨出14种不同的结核病的基因组织。其中五具遗体感染了一种以上的结核病。

One of the researchers was Mark Pallen. He is with the University of Warwick in Britain. He says the new evidence shows people in the 18th century often suffered from several different strains of TB.

其中有一位叫Mark Pallen的研究人员，来自英国华威大学。他说新证据显示在18世纪的人们就经常受多种不同结核病类型困扰。

For example, he says, researchers discovered a mother and daughter who were both infected with many TB strains. He says they may have passed the disease to each other.

例如，他说，研究人员发现一名母亲和女儿双方都感染不同结核病菌株。他说他们之间可能有过病毒传播。

The discovery makes researchers believe that many people across Europe suffered from TB. The disease spreads easily through a population.

这一发现使得研究人员相信许多欧洲人也曾患有结核病。这种疾病很容易通过人群传播。

Mr. Pallen says the discovery may make doctors think differently about tuberculosis. Researchers today usually expect patients to have only one kind of TB.

Pallen说这一发现可能会让医生重新认识结核病。今天的研究人员依然希望患者只患有其中一种结核病。

"I don't think I can claim single-handedly to have changed the field in any way. But it's just changing the way people think, and it's just making people think more carefully about assumptions about what we do at the moment."

我不认为我可以单枪匹马改变结核病领域，但是人们对结核病的认识正在改变，人们会对更加仔细的考虑假设条件，会仔细考虑我们当下所做的工作。

Today, researchers say a number of TB infections have been discovered in South Africa, where many people have the virus that causes AIDS. Being infected with more than one strain of TB makes treating the disease difficult.

今天，研究人员说在南非地区发现了许多感染结核病疾病的人，南非也有很多人感染艾滋病病毒。同时感染一种以上的结核菌株会给治疗带来很大的困难。

Mr. Pallen's team studied changes in both old and new TB bacteria samples. He says their research suggests a common ancestor for the current bacterium existed nearly 6,000 years ago -- as far back as ancient Rome.

Pallen的研究小组研究对之前和最新结核菌株样本进行了研究，他说他们的研究表明结合菌株的祖先级菌株早在近6000年前就已经存在，可以追溯到古罗马时期。

I'm Jonathan Evans

VOA's Jessica Berman reported this story. Kelly Jean Kelly wrote it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

mummified – adj. keeping something from breaking down, for instance, by using oils or heat

genomes – n. the genetic material that describes the qualities of an individual

strains – n. kinds or sorts

samples – n. a group taken from a larger group to get information

Researchers have found tuberculosis bacteria in 200-year-old human remains. The researchers say the discovery is surprising. The remains came from a Hungarian church where wealthy Europeans were buried. Today, tuberculosis affects mostly poor people. The finding shows how the deadly lung disease has changed over time.

Today, Tuberculosis -- or TB -- mostly affects poor people or those already infected with the AIDS virus. Many TB patients live in the developing world. TB rarely affects wealthy people in developed countries.

But the situation was different in Europe 250 years ago. The researchers found that in the 18th century, wealthy Europeans also suffered from TB. Sometimes the Europeans even had more than one kind of the disease.

A report in the journal "Nature Communications" describes the findings. It says the researchers examined the remains of 26 people. Their bodies were kept at the Dominican Church in Vacs, Hungary. The remains were mummified – that is, they had not broken down.

The researchers say 8 of the 26 bodies had signs of tuberculosis bacteria. In fact, researchers were able to identify 14 different TB genomes among the remains. Five of the mummies were infected with more than one kind of TB.

One of the researchers was Mark Pallen. He is with the University of Warwick in Britain. He says the new evidence shows people in the 18th century often suffered from several different strains of TB.

For example, he says, researchers discovered a mother and daughter who were both infected with many TB strains. He says they may have passed the disease to each other.

The discovery makes researchers believe that many people across Europe suffered from TB. The disease spreads easily through a population.

Mr. Pallen says the discovery may make doctors think differently about tuberculosis. Researchers today usually expect patients to have only one kind of TB.

"I don't think I can claim single-handedly to have changed the field in any way. But it's just changing the way people think, and it's just making people think more carefully about assumptions about what we do at the moment."

Today, researchers say a number of TB infections have been discovered in South Africa, where many people have the virus that causes AIDS. Being infected with more than one strain of TB makes treating the disease difficult.

Mr. Pallen's team studied changes in both old and new TB bacteria samples. He says their research suggests a common ancestor for the current bacterium existed nearly 6,000 years ago -- as far back as ancient Rome.

I'm Jonathan Evans

VOA's Jessica Berman reported this story. Kelly Jean Kelly wrote it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

mummified – adj. keeping something from breaking down, for instance, by using oils or heat

genomes – n. the genetic material that describes the qualities of an individual

strains – n. kinds or sorts

samples – n. a group taken from a larger group to get information