Medical and genetics experts in Poland say that a heart infection caused by a common skin bacteria could have caused the 1817 death of Tadeusz Kosciuszko, a Polish and U.S. military leader and national hero.

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2020 file photo, protesters carry an EU flag at an anti-government protest in Warsaw, Poland. Poland's conservative government denies that it has ever wanted to leave the 27-member bloc and popular support for EU membership runs very high. The fears of a hypothetical Polexit are fueled by Brexit, Britain's messy divorce from the EU, which is seen as accidental. “I cannot imagine Poland outside of the European Union remaining a democratic and liberal country,” Buras said. Poland's three living former presidents, noting their own long efforts to build a democratic nation, asked the government in a joint appeal this week “to stop blackmailing other European Union countries."