The history of measles: from a 1912 genome to an antique origin

Düx, Ariane; Lequime, Sebastian; Patrono, Livia Victoria; Vrancken, Bram; Boral, Şengül; Gogarten, Jan F.; Hilbig, Antonia; Horst, David; Merkel, Kevin; Prepoint, Baptiste; Santibanez, Sabine; Schlotterbeck, Jasmin; Suchard, Marc A.; Ulrich, Markus; Widulin, Navena; Mankertz, Annette; Leendertz, Fabian H.; Harper, Kyle; Schnalke, Thomas; Lemey, Philippe; Calvignac‐Spencer, Sébastien

doi:10.1101/2019.12.29.889667

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 56 publications

(9 reference statements)

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“…Nevertheless, this hypothesis requires future and more comprehensive studies aimed to characterize the presence of measles and rubella viruses from ancient remains. A task that imposes difficult technical challenges given that RNA is known to degrade rapidly, in fact the most ancient viral RNA genomes (1912 CE) have been recovered only from formalin-fixed tissue 17,18 . Additionally, historical records of the autopsies of victims of the 1576 Cocoliztli epidemic treated at the HSJN, describe the observation of enlarged hard liver and jaundice 4,6,7,9,68 , which could be explained by severe liver damage or epidemic hepatitis 4,6 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of HBV and B19V into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade

Guzmán-Solís

Blanco-Melo

Villa-Islas

et al. 2020

Preprint

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After the European colonization of the Americas there was a dramatic population collapse of the Indigenous inhabitants caused in part by the introduction of new pathogens. Although there is much speculation on the etiology of the Colonial epidemics, direct evidence for the presence of specific viruses during the Colonial era is lacking. To uncover the diversity of viral pathogens during this period, we designed an enrichment assay targeting ancient DNA (aDNA) from viruses of clinical importance and applied it on DNA extracts from individuals found in a Colonial (16th c. – 18th c.) hospital and a Colonial chapel where records suggest victims of epidemics were buried during important outbreaks in Mexico City. This allowed us to reconstruct three ancient human parvovirus B19 genomes, and one ancient human hepatitis B virus genome from distinct individuals. The viral genomes are similar to African strains, consistent with the inferred morphological and genetic African ancestry of the hosts as well as with the isotopic analysis of the human remains, suggesting an origin on the African continent. This study provides direct molecular evidence of ancient viruses being transported to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade and their subsequent introduction to New Spain. Altogether, our observations enrich the discussion about the etiology of infectious diseases during the Colonial period in Mexico.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of HBV and B19V into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade

Guzmán-Solís

Blanco-Melo

Villa-Islas

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Similar to recent viral outbreaks [1], our ancestors were also probably challenged by viral epidemics. Investigations of past viruses using historical specimens have provided insights into the origin and spread of viral infections [2][3][4][5][6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

One hundred million years history of bornavirus infections hidden in vertebrate genomes

Kawasaki

Kojima

Mukai

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Although viruses have threatened our ancestors for millions of years, prehistoric epidemics of viruses are largely unknown. Endogenous bornavirus-like elements (EBLs) are ancient viral sequences that have been integrated into animal genomes. These elements can be used as molecular fossil records to trace past bornaviral infections. In this study, we systematically identified EBLs in vertebrate genomes and revealed the history of bornavirus infections over nearly 100 million years. We found that ancient bornaviral infections have occurred in diverse vertebrate lineages, especially in primate ancestors. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that primate ancestors had been infected with various bornaviral lineages during evolution. Moreover, EBLs in primate genomes formed clades according to their integration ages, suggesting that epidemic lineages of bornaviruses had changed chronologically. However, we found that some bornaviral lineages coexisted with primate ancestors and underwent repeated endogenizations for tens of millions of years. Furthermore, this viral lineage that coexisted with primate ancestors was also endogenized in some ancestral bats. Notably, the geographic distributions of these bat ancestors have been reported to overlap with the migration route of primate ancestors, suggesting that long-term virus-host coexistence could have expanded the geographic distributions of the viral lineage and might have spread their infections to new hosts. Thus, our findings describe hidden virus-host co-evolutionary history over geological timescales, including chronological change in epidemic bornaviral lineages, long-term virus-host coexistence, and expansion of viral infections.

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“…However, time-dependency of molecular rates (TDMR) may lead to underestimating deep divergence times when mutation rates are inferred from genomes collected within a relatively restricted time period 77,78 . Applying a model accounting for TMDR may be possible, but would require an inclusion of genomes sampled over wide and distinct time-periods 79,80 . The latest common ancestor of the venereal syphilis strains was placed between the 10 th and 15 th century CE.…”

Section: Molecular Clock Datingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ancient bacterial genomes reveal a formerly unknown diversity ofTreponema pallidumstrains in early modern Europe

Majander

Pfrengle

Neukamm

et al. 2020

Preprint

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Sexually transmitted (venereal) syphilis marked European history with a devastating epidemic at the end of the 15 th century, and is currently re-emerging globally. Together with non-venereal treponemal diseases, like bejel and yaws, found in subtropical and tropical regions, it poses a prevailing health threat worldwide. The origins and spread of treponemal diseases remain unresolved, including syphilis' potential introduction into Europe from the Americas. Here, we present the first genetic data from archaeological human remains reflecting a previously unknown diversity of Treponema pallidum in historical Europe. Our study demonstrates that a variety of strains related to both venereal syphilis and yaws were already present in Northern Europe in the early modern period. We also discovered a previously unknown T. pallidum lineage recovered as a sister group to yaws and bejel. These findings imply a more complex pattern of 3 geographical prevalence and etiology of early treponemal epidemics than previously understood.

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The history of measles: from a 1912 genome to an antique origin

Cited by 6 publications

References 56 publications

Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of HBV and B19V into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade

Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of HBV and B19V into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade

One hundred million years history of bornavirus infections hidden in vertebrate genomes

Ancient bacterial genomes reveal a formerly unknown diversity ofTreponema pallidumstrains in early modern Europe

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