How did researchers find the sheep pox virus?
Scientists identified ancient sheep pox virus DNA by analyzing parchment from medieval manuscripts dating between the 8th and 14th centuries. The study, published in Science Advances, also detected the virus in sheep teeth from Bronze Age sites in Russia and Kazakhstan. By recovering 21 ancient genomes, researchers traced the pathogen's history back 3,700 years, suggesting that archives and libraries worldwide may hold further genetic evidence of past animal disease outbreaks.
The discovery highlights how historical documents serve as unexpected biological records. While the virus was expected in sheepskin parchment, its presence in calf and goat skin, as well as paper, suggests potential contamination during production or the use of animal-derived glues. This finding provides a unique window into the evolution of capripoxviruses, which include sheep pox, goat pox, and lumpy skin disease.
What does this reveal about the virus's evolution?
Genetic analysis indicates that major capripoxvirus lineages diverged from a common ancestor between 11,500 and 3,700 years ago, coinciding with early human livestock management. The virus genome has remained remarkably stable over these millennia. This historical stability offers scientists valuable insights into the pathogen's behavior, which remains highly relevant today as modern farmers continue to battle outbreaks that threaten livestock herds globally.
