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The Syphilis Enigma

Secrets of the Dead

Run Time: 56 mins

Air Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001

Average Rating: ⭐ 0 (0 votes)

PBS

Season 2 - Episode 6

The Syphilis Enigma

Average Rating: ⭐ 0 (0)

In 1492, Christopher Columbus crossed the Atlantic in search of gold. But what his men carried back with them to Europe was something far less appealing. They brought the scourge of syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease never before seen in the Old World. At least that is what scientists have generally believed. But now, the discovery in Europe of a pre-Columbian body with definite signs of syphilis has archaeologist Charlotte Roberts convinced that syphilis existed in the Old World long before Columbus ever set sail. New evidence from across Europe is beginning to turn the prevailing Columbus theory on its head (UK/PBS 55 min)

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