Officially declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980, smallpox has long plagued humanity. Out of ten infected people, three did not survive and the others very often went on with their lives disfigured or disabled. In the 20th century alone, smallpox claimed nearly 300 million lives. Traces of this ailment have recently been discovered on the bodies of several Vikings proving for the first time that it has ravaged humanity for at least 1,400 years.
New strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons
We have discovered new strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons and have found that their genetic structure is different from that of the modern smallpox virus eradicated in the 20th century., explains Professor Eske Willerslev in a press release. We already knew the Vikings were moving across Europe and beyond, and now we know they had smallpox“. The comparison with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which has claimed more than 600,000 lives worldwide, is then easy.”People traveling around the world quickly spread Covid-19 and so it is likely that the Vikings spread smallpox, continues the Danish scientist. The difference is that at that time they were traveling by boat rather than by plane.“.” data-reactid = “14”> Scientists from several countries have analyzed inert strains of the smallpox virus, found in the teeth of Vikings who died in several places in Northern Europe: 11 burial sites in Denmark, Norway, in Russia and the United Kingdom and on the island of Oland (Sweden). The genome of these strains could then be sequenced. “We have discovered new strains of smallpox in the teeth of Viking skeletons and have found that their genetic structure is different from that of the modern smallpox virus eradicated in the 20th century., explains Professor Eske Willerslev in a press release. We already knew the Vikings were moving across Europe and beyond, and now we know they had smallpox“. The comparison with the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, which has claimed more than 600,000 lives worldwide, is then easy.”People traveling around the world quickly spread Covid-19 and so it is likely that the Vikings spread smallpox, continues the Danish scientist. The difference is that at that time they were traveling by boat rather than by plane.“.
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However, there is no evidence today that this viral disease was so ruthless in the Viking Age.[…]
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