Posted on 01/04/2018 11:47:36 PM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
A medieval child whose mummified body was thought to show the earliest known case of smallpox was really suffering from hepatitis, scientists say.
DNA analysis of the 16th century remains, found in the Basilica of Saint Domenico Maggiore in Naples, revealed the child was infected with an ancient strain of the hepatitis B virus (HBV).
The team believe their findings could help shed new light on the ancient origins of the disease which, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), kills 1.5 million people a year.
Previous scientific analysis of the 16th century remains - which did not include DNA testing - suggested the child was infected with Variola virus, or smallpox.
In fact, this was the oldest evidence for the presence of smallpox in Medieval remains and a critical time stamp for its origins.
Using advanced sequencing techniques, researchers led by McMaster University now believe child was actually infected by HBV.
Children infected with HBV infections can develop a facial rash, known as Gianotti-Crosti syndrome.
This may have been misidentified as smallpox and illustrates the trickiness of identifying infectious disease in the past.
Using small tissue samples of skin and bone, scientists were able to tease out tiny fragments of DNA and then stitch together pieces of genetic information to create a much more complete picture.
While viruses often evolve very rapidly - sometimes in just days - researchers suggest that this ancient strain of HBV has changed little over the last 450 years.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Ancient disease ping.
Oh great! Now they’ve opened the mummy and released that ancient strain of Hep B on an unknowing populace with no natural immunity to it.
It’s just like [ insert name of bad science fiction movie here ] all over again!
Absolutely fascinating. But I wonder why the article doesn’t mention whether the child was a boy or girl.
You and your gender fascism are not welcome here. Be gone with you!
;-)
You and your gender fascism are not welcome here. Be gone with you!
;-)
I hope I hold in my last fart until some knucklehead digs me up in 500 years.
My first thoughts exactly.
I just finished watching a British television series called Medieval Dead which is about analyzing skeletons to find out how people lived and died. While they do sometimes try looking for specific items like church sites and battlefields, most finds come through accidental means, usually construction sites. It was mildly interesting but not as good as other series like Time Team
Now I know all I need to know about HBV. Not getting any closer. My immune system isn’t functioning correctly and I don’t want to tease it. *sheesh*
And why didn’t they say if it was male or female?
No DNA testing was done. Probably that will happen as well.
I never heard of “Time Team”! I just checked it out. I would love to see the entire series! Looks very entertaining as well as educational!
You can find a lot of episodes on Youtube. Each episode is unique so you don't miss anything by skipping around. It ran for over 20 years so there are loads of great episodes. I don't have any streaming service but I wouldn't be surprised if you could find it on one like NetFlix.
We don’t have Netflix any more but we have HULU and they have a lot of British content. I’ll definitely check it out on there. I will check Youtube. I have a degree in archaeology but haven’t worked in the field except right out of college. I ended up as an archivist, but I still love archaeology!
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