Alicia Wilbur

Signal Bay Research

This work contributes to ongoing discussions about the nature of tuberculosis in the Western Hemisphere prior to the time of European contact. Our example, from the extreme south of South America was, at the time of our study, without firm temporal association or molecular characterization. In Tierra del Fuego, Constantinescu (1999) briefly describ...

Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) usually includes laboratory analysis of sputum, a viscous material derived from deep in the airways of patients with active disease. As a diagnostic sample matrix, sputum can be difficult to collect and analyze. An alternative, less invasive sample matrix could greatly simplify TB diagnosis. We hypothesized...

Diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) usually includes laboratory analysis of sputum, a viscous material derived from deep in the airways of patients with active disease. As a diagnostic sample matrix, sputum can be difficult to collect and analyze by microbiological and molecular techniques. An alternative, less invasive sample matrix could gre...

The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex causes tuberculosis in humans and nonhuman primates and is a global public health concern. Standard diagnostics rely upon host immune responses to detect infection in nonhuman primates and lack sensitivity and specificity across the spectrum of mycobacterial infection in these species. We have previously shown...

Modern strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the Americas are closely related to those from Europe, supporting the assumption that human tuberculosis was introduced post-contact. This notion, however, is incompatible with archaeological evidence of pre-contact tuberculosis in the New World. Comparative genomics of modern isolates suggests that...

Here we present a case series from a primate research facility. The index case, a 4-year-old pig-tailed macaque (Macaca nemestrina) experimentally infected with chimeric simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIVSF162 P4), developed weight loss and was euthanized. Based on necropsy results the animal was diagnosed with opportunistic atypical mycobac...

Although the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) infects a third of all humans, little is known regarding the prevalence of mycobacterial infection in nonhuman primates (NHP). For more than a century, tuberculosis has been regarded as a serious infectious threat to NHP species. Advances in the detection of MTBC open new possibilities for inve...

Biomedical research in the 21st century increasingly relies on pathogen-free nonhuman primates (NHPs) to model human pathophysiology. Despite adherence to protocols designed to maintain pathogen-free colonies, reports of tuberculosis regularly appear. We hypothesize that, undetected by standard screening protocols, mycobacteria of the Mycobacterium...

Cultural and ecological interactions between non-human primates (NHPs) and humans occur in a variety of contexts in Peru, and human population growth and economic development has increased human-NHP interactions through habitat encroachment, hunting, wildlife trade, and through access to zoos and sanctuaries. Additionally, harboring exotic pets in...

This paper examines skeletal and ancient DNA evidence in the study of suspected tuberculosis infection in the late pre-Hispanic and Colonial-era Lambayeque Valley Complex, north coast Peru (A.D. 900–1750). We integrate information on macroscopic lesion characteristics and distribution, radiographic and CT scan imagery, and analysis of Mycobacterium...

We explore the standards of research and reporting needed to justify the destructive analysis of archaeological human bone for biomolecular studies of ancient tuberculosis (TB). Acceptable standards in osteological interpretation have been met in some biomolecular papers, but there are also cases where insufficient care has been taken in distinguis...

Osseous manifestation of infectious disease is of paramount importance to paleopathologists seeking to interpret ancient health, but the relationships among infectious agent exposure, development of disease, and skeletal involvement are complex. The outcome of an exposure strongly depends on multiple factors, including ecology, diet, nutrition, imm...

Two of humankind's most socially and psychologically devastating diseases, tuberculosis and leprosy, have been the subject of intensive paleopathological research due to their antiquity, a presumed association with human settlement and subsistence patterns, and their propensity to leave characteristic lesions on skeletal and mummified remains. Desp...

Tuberculosis (TB) is a significant health problem for most of the world's populations, and prevalence among indigenous groups is typically higher than among their nonindigenous neighbors. Native South Americans experience high rates of TB, but while research in several other world populations indicates that susceptibility is multifactorial, polygen...

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease that continues to take its toll on human lives. Paleopathological research indicates that it has been a significant cause of death among humans for at least five thousand years. Because of the devastating consequences to human health, social systems, and endangered primate species, TB has been the subject...

I describe an adult female skeleton (#Yo3-96) from the Yokem Mound skeletal series that had microcephaly; mild micrognathia; a broad nasal bridge; orbital hypertelorism; hypoplasia of the first metacarpals; pes planus; anomalies of the cervical spine, ribs, and sternum; and delayed epiphyseal remodeling of the radii and tibiae. Because the Yokem se...

This study focuses on hands and feet as indicators of sex and stature for Native Americans, hitherto relatively neglected in this regard. The study was performed on a large, well-preserved prehistoric skeletal sample from west-central Illinois. Discriminant functions are presented which determine sex with accuracies exceeding 87%. Those functions a...

A small pit in the articular surfaces of the third tarsometatarsal joint has been noted with particularly high frequency in North American Indians. This pit varies in depth, and covers most of the inferior third of the articular surfaces of the third metatarsal and the lateral cuneiform; it is accompanied by remodelling of the inferior surfaces of...