A 1200-year-old smallpox-infected Viking skeleton found in Öland, Sweden. Credit: The Swedish National Heritage Board
Posted on 07/25/2020 10:53:57 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Scientists have discovered extinct strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons - proving for the first time that the killer disease plagued humanity for at least 1400 years.
Smallpox spread from person to person via infectious droplets, killed around a third of sufferers and left another third permanently scarred or blind. Around 300 million people died from it in the 20th century alone before it was officially eradicated in 1980 through a global vaccination effort - the first human disease to be wiped out...
He said: "We discovered new strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons and found their genetic structure is different to the modern smallpox virus eradicated in the 20th century...
Smallpox was eradicated throughout most of Europe and the United States by the beginning of the 20th century but remained endemic throughout Africa, Asia, and South America. The World Health Organisation launched an eradication programme in 1967... [b]ut it was the global roll out of a vaccine that ultimately enabled scientists to stop smallpox in its tracks.
Historians believe smallpox may have existed since 10,000 BC but until now there was no scientific proof that the virus was present before the 17th century...
The team of researchers found smallpox - caused by the variola virus - in 11 Viking-era burial sites in Denmark, Norway, Russia, and the UK. They also found it in multiple human remains from Öland, an island off the east coast of Sweden with a long history of trade. The team were able to reconstruct near-complete variola virus genomes for four of the samples.
(Excerpt) Read more at eurekalert.org ...
Does this mean we can put Chris Columbus back up again? Vikings were spreading Small Pox to the Indians before him.
How were the Vikings able to eradicate smallpox?
They were masks.
Oh No.
A vaccine that ultimately enabled scientists to stop smallpox
Wore. Damned autocorrect
But but but!
Who gave it to the vikings?
They picked it up during a visit to Poxistan.
Probably the Arabs.
Small pox is (IIRC) a variation of camel pox that mutated to spread to people.
Most deadly viruses are from animals living in close proximity to humans. Cows, pigs and chickens being the biggest virus reservoirs.
We knew what you meant.
Must have been the Chinese take-outs with their bat soup and flied lice.
Probably the Arabs.
Small pox is (IIRC) a variation of camel pox that mutated to spread to people.
**********
Soooo...
That means smallpox started out as a sexually transmitted disease from camels to humans?
Because...
You know...
Arabs and their animals.
What? You haven’t heard of “herd immunity”?
Cow Pox which is a related but very mild form of the disease was caught by dairy maids just by milking the cows. And yes, in the ME they milk camels.
Ah ha! So it wasn’t Columbus that spread it through the new world.
The Vikings haven’t been much of a threat since the 1970’s.
Yet they still went to work raping and pillaging...
They were Chinese?
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