As Napoleon advanced into Russia in 1812, he commanded the largest army ever assembled in Europe. However, his return was marked not by gunfire, but by the chilling impact of microscopic foes.
Scientists examining DNA from the teeth of soldiers who perished during the retreat from Moscow have uncovered two diseases that devastated the Tsar’s grand army.
Historically, “typhus has been regarded as the most widespread illness in the military,” stated Nicolas Raskovan, director of the microbial paleogenomics department at the Pasteur Institute and lead author of the research. The findings were published in “Current Biology”.
Employing a method known as shotgun sequencing, Raskovan and his team investigated ancient DNA from the dental remains of 13 soldiers discovered near Vilnius, Lithuania, and identified two “previously undocumented pathogens.”
“We have confirmed the presence of Salmonella enterica, which is part of the Paratyphoid C strain,” he explained to NBC News, noting this bacteria is responsible for paratyphoid fever, along with Borrelia ricerentis, the agent of relapsing fever.
These diseases would likely have thrived in environments where “sanitation and hygiene were severely lacking,” he added.
The results align with historical accounts detailing symptoms like fever and diarrhea that plagued Napoleon’s troops, according to the study.
A “reasonable scenario” for the fatalities might include “extreme fatigue, cold weather, and multiple illnesses, such as paratyphoid fever or louse-borne relapsing fever,” the researchers noted.
“Although not necessarily deadly, louse-borne relapsing fever can be profoundly debilitating for someone already worn down,” they added.
In contrast to a 2006 study that discovered traces of bacteria causing typhus and trench fever in four out of 35 individuals, this research found no evidence of those illnesses.
However, Raskovan noted that while early research was constrained by the technology at the time, both old and new findings paint a clearer picture of the factors that led to the downfall of Napoleon’s forces.
“The discovery of four different pathogens in such a significant number of individuals strongly indicates that a variety of infections were widespread,” he remarked.
Approximately 300,000 lives were lost before Napoleon’s army retreated. It appears even an emperor cannot conquer the realm of microorganisms.
WAfter arriving in Bangkok from Nairobi last December, Duncan Okindo sensed something was amiss as he began his job as a customer service agent. The 26-year-old had previously sold cattle, borrowed funds from a friend, and used his savings to pay the recruitment agency 200,000 Kenyan Shillings (£1,150).
“I thought it was a positive step to leave [the country] and seek opportunities to support my family,” Okindo recalls.
Unfortunately, when a van collected Okindo and six other Kenyans at the airport, the driver took their passports and falsely informed Thai officials that they were tourists. After several hours of travel, they were taken to a boat to cross a river, confused and exhausted.
For the next three months, he was forced to send thousands of messages from fake social media accounts, posing as a wealthy American investor to defraud U.S. real estate agents through cryptocurrency scams.
When he failed to hit his daily targets, he faced beatings, confinement in a freezing room, and sometimes went without food for up to two days. He prayed for the safety of others who suffered at the hands of the Chinese gangsters operating the center, wishing they could avoid the electrocution and sexual torture he witnessed.
“It was hell on Earth,” says Okindo. “I felt completely shattered.”
Eventually, he was released from Myanmar’s KK Park, a compound reflecting the rising number of Kenyans, Ugandans, and Ethiopians trafficked to Southeast Asia as criminal organizations look to expand the East African labor pool.
KK Park is a rapidly growing fraud center located in Myawadi, along Myanmar’s border with Thailand. Photo: Jittrapon Kaicome/The Guardian
Since the 2021 coup in Myanmar, there’s been a surge in cyber slavery compounds, taking advantage of the country’s weakened governance and fostering illegal activities. The number of such centers along the Thai border has escalated from 11 to 26 in just four years.
Okindo considers himself fortunate. The mission to find and free trafficked individuals involves coordination among multiple governments, militias, and police forces. Thai officials have successfully promoted the release of thousands of trafficking victims, while East African governments are increasingly collaborating with Thai authorities willing to engage with Myanmar’s junta and militia forces at the border.
Victims can only be released into Thai custody if their home country agrees to take responsibility for their repatriation and the associated costs.
Since 2020, the Southeast Asian cyberslavery industry has ensnared hundreds of thousands, forcing individuals into what is colloquially termed “slaughtering the pigs,” a brutal way to build trust with scam targets before executing fraud. Initially aimed at Chinese and Taiwanese victims, the industry has expanded to Southeast Asians, Indians, and now, Africans.
“Sometimes I’m afraid to talk about it,” Okindo reflects. Photo: Provided by Duncan Okindo
This has led various human trafficking networks to search for recruits with English and technical skills, including East Africans. Estimates now suggest thousands are trapped in Southeast Asian compounds, according to Benedict Hoffman, a representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
As awareness grows among citizens in various countries, recruitment becomes increasingly challenging. “It’s much harder these days to enlist large numbers of individuals from India,” Hoffmann notes. “This is why we’re observing a rise in victims from Africa.”
Between January and April, the Kenyan government successfully repatriated 175 citizens from Myanmar; Roseline Njogu, the Director of the Diaspora Issues Department in Kenya’s State Department, noted that a substantial group of Kenyans, about 150 individuals trafficked from across Southeast Asia, was rescued between 2022 and 2024. This issue also extends to Ethiopia and Uganda.
Recruiters exploiting modern slavery are capitalizing on government migration promotion, targeting Kenya through online job advertisements, social media, texts, and in-person visits to rural areas, states Mutuk Nguri, CEO of the Counter Human Traffic Trust.
Chinese, Vietnamese, and Ethiopians rescued in Misawadi, Myanmar. They are recognized as victims of human trafficking at fraud centers. Photo: Thanaphon Wuttison/AP
The government acknowledges its precarious position, according to Nguri. The Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Issues did not respond to requests for comments.
Thailand has aided thousands, but repatriation presents its own challenges and costs. Thai officials must establish that workers are indeed victims of human trafficking before releasing them to their home countries.
When Susan Wahura* was rescued from a Myanmar romance scam operation in 2022, she spent a month moving between four Thai detention centers before realizing she was trafficked and initiating legal steps to obtain freedom.
“I spent time in a solitary cell before accepting my status as a trafficking victim which ultimately led to my freedom,” shares 32-year-old Wahura.
Neither Uganda nor Ethiopia maintain embassies in Thailand, complicating their ability to identify victims in Myanmar, currently engulfed in civil conflict. Earlier this year, several Ugandans and Ethiopians found themselves stranded at the Myanmar-Thai border as repatriation efforts stalled.
Duncan Okindo has created a TikTok video detailing his trafficking experiences in Myanmar, aiming to raise awareness about predatory agencies and bogus job offers. Photo: Carlos Mureithi/The Guardian
The fraud syndicate is exploiting vulnerabilities in East Africa’s diplomatic representation to deter victims from seeking help, asserts Jason Tower, a global initiative against transnational organized crime.
“Ultimately, that’s the objective of the scam syndicate—to transform individuals into profit-generating machines, acting as high-capacity con artists,” states Tower.
Nevertheless, despite repatriation efforts by East African nations, deceptive recruitment agencies keep advertising fake job opportunities. Both Okindo and Wahura continue to share guardian messages with Kenyans contemplating moves to Southeast Asia.
In May, Okindo, who holds a mass communication diploma, filed a lawsuit against the recruitment agency and its staff, accusing them of conscription into slavery and human trafficking. A Nairobi court has issued a temporary injunction preventing the overseas employment of labor.
Since his return, Okindo has spoken publicly about his experiences through television, TikTok, and other social media outlets, connecting stranded victims with legal support, aid organizations, and ambassadors for their recovery.
His aim is to raise awareness about malicious institutions and false job opportunities while encouraging victims to seek justice.
“I’ve enlightened many individuals,” he asserts. “Though I sometimes feel scared discussing it, I share my story, knowing that speaking out could help save others.”
Archaeologists have unveiled the first tangible evidence that Roman gladiators confronted lions, following the identification of bite marks on skeletons unearthed in York, England, attributed to a large feline.
The remains discovered on Driffield Terrace, one of the best-preserved gladiator burial sites in Rome, date back around 1,800 years and belong to a man who likely faced a gruesome death at the jaws of a lion.
A recent analysis of the skeleton, excavated over two decades ago, indicates that he probably succumbed to a lion’s attack. The research team compared three-dimensional scans of bite marks on the warrior’s hip bones with lion bite samples from a zoo, confirming a match.
The puncture on the gladiator’s bones provides the first direct evidence of Roman battles involving lions. -Thompson et al
“This is a very exciting discovery,” said Marine Horst, a lecturer in osteophytes at York University and managing director of York Bone Artisans.
“We can now start to paint a clearer picture of what these gladiators experienced in life. We also observe that in urban arenas like York, the existence of big cats and possibly other exotic animals posed a threat they had to defend against.”
The skeletons belonged to men aged between 26 and 35, buried alongside two others and covered with horse bones, indicating a burial practice.
In life, he likely faced malnutrition as a child and exhibited signs of spinal injury, inflammation, and physical stress.
Unhealed lion bites are believed to be the cause of death, after which he seems to have been beheaded—a practice noted in Roman burials, although its significance remains unclear.
Driffield Terrace has long drawn interest, with excavations that began in 2004 revealing over 80 young, robust male skeletons.
While depictions of gladiators battling lions are common, concrete evidence of such encounters is rare. – Councillor of the British Museum
Dental enamel analysis confirmed that these individuals originated from the Roman Empire, and many experienced atypical funerals.
The latest findings bolster the theory that these men were gladiators, referred to as Bestiarius: a class of fighters who faced wild animals often stemming from enslaved backgrounds.
“For years, our comprehension of Roman gladiator combat and animal spectacles relied heavily on historical texts and artistic illustrations,” remarked Professor Tim Thompson from Maynooth University, Ireland.
“This discovery offers the first direct physical evidence proving such events took place during that era, reshaping our understanding of the entertainment culture in the region during Roman times.”
Though no amphitheater has yet been found in York, historical documentation suggests the city hosted arena events from the fourth century onward.
During this period, York served as a pivotal center of the empire, home to prominent Roman generals, including Constantine the Great, who was declared emperor in 306 AD.
David Jennings, CEO of York Archaeology commented on the gladiators: “You may never know that this man fought in an arena for the entertainment of others, but it’s noteworthy that the first osteological evidence of this type of gladiator combat has emerged far from the Colosseum in Rome.”
The study documenting these findings is published in the journal PLOS 1.
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