Hidden pathogens uncovered in Napoleon’s doomed Russian invasion

As the article notes, Napoleons march to Moscow was one of the costliest war efforts, ever. 

The cold, the distance, and most notably disease wiped out his army. 

Now, we are learning through dna research that the biggest factor was disease.  And not just a single strain of typhoid, but rather a host of diseases that ravaged his army. 

I find it kind of fascinating to think about how perhaps things could have gone differently if we had antibiotics or vaccines. 

And it should serve as a reminder to us about what could (and perhaps will) happen to the US population if we don't immunize against diseases. 

The attached pictograph is one of the most famous depictions of the effort, it shows the size of his army as it left France, in brown and the returning army in black. It also has a  scale for time and relative temperature along the bottom. 

https://www.wesh.com/article/napoleon-1812-invasion-army-diseases-dna/69151987