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Thursday, 24 September 2026
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Thursday, 24 September 2026
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Thursday, 24 September 2026
Sun FM Gossip
VIKINGS MAY HAVE A HAND IN SPREADING THE WORLD'S DEADLIEST VIRUS!
Sunday, 09 August 2020
Smallpox is transmitted from person to person through droplets which killed approximately a third of sufferers and left the other third permanently scarred or blind. An estimated 300 million people died from it before it was officially declared eradicated in 1980 through a global vaccination effort. The first-ever human disease to be completely eradicated.
An international team of scientists has recently discovered strains of the virus after it was taken from the teeth of Viking skeletons from northern Europe sites. These findings have been published in Science today.
The study was led by Professor Eske Willerslev, of St John's College, University of Cambridge, and director of The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, University of Copenhagen.
He said: "We discovered new strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons and found their genetic structure is different from the modern smallpox virus eradicated in the 20th century. We already knew Vikings were moving around Europe and beyond, and we now know they had smallpox. People traveling around the world quickly spread Covid-19 and it is likely Vikings spread smallpox.” It is uncertain how it first infected humans but, like Covid-19, it is suspected to have originated from animals.
The group 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 several human remains from Öland, an island off the east coast of Sweden with a long history of trade.
Professor Willerslev states "Smallpox was eradicated but another strain could spillover from the animal reservoir tomorrow. What we know in 2020 about viruses and pathogens that affect humans today, is just a small snapshot of what has plagued humans historically."
An international team of scientists has recently discovered strains of the virus after it was taken from the teeth of Viking skeletons from northern Europe sites. These findings have been published in Science today.
The study was led by Professor Eske Willerslev, of St John's College, University of Cambridge, and director of The Lundbeck Foundation GeoGenetics Centre, University of Copenhagen.
He said: "We discovered new strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons and found their genetic structure is different from the modern smallpox virus eradicated in the 20th century. We already knew Vikings were moving around Europe and beyond, and we now know they had smallpox. People traveling around the world quickly spread Covid-19 and it is likely Vikings spread smallpox.” It is uncertain how it first infected humans but, like Covid-19, it is suspected to have originated from animals.
The group 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 several human remains from Öland, an island off the east coast of Sweden with a long history of trade.
Professor Willerslev states "Smallpox was eradicated but another strain could spillover from the animal reservoir tomorrow. What we know in 2020 about viruses and pathogens that affect humans today, is just a small snapshot of what has plagued humans historically."