Child mummy offers revised history of smallpox

(Cell Press) A child mummy from the 17th century, found in a crypt underneath a Lithuanian church, was discovered to harbor the oldest known sample of the variola virus that causes smallpox. Researchers who sequenced the virus say it could help answer lingering questions about the history of smallpox, including how recently it appeared in humans (perhaps more recently than we thought) and when specific evolutionary events occurred. Their study appears Dec. 8 in Current Biology.
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news