Lecture 1: Viruses and Viral Disease Flashcards
What is the oldest biological material with signs of viral disease?
Traces of smallpox postules on mummified head of Ramses V (3,161 year old mummy).
Can some mummies or buried corpses from historical smallpox outbreaks remain infectious?
Not known but as of now not yet determined
What is paleovirology?
Receding glaciers/melting ice sheets: Microbes trapped 3,000to 750,000 years ago have been released from ice cores.
Have human live ancient viruses been found yet?
No
What is an example of an ancient virus? (Example 1)
2014: Novel giant virus Pithovirus sibericum discovered in a sample of 30,000 year old Siberian permafrost (from 100 ft deep).
Pithorvirus only infects/kills___
amoebae
What is another type of ancient virus? (Example 2)
2015: Mollivirus sibericum (another giant virus of amoebae) was discovered in a sample of 30,000 year old Siberian permafrost.
This was the 4th ancient virus recovered from permafrost:
Mollivirus sibericum
Permafrost is a very good preserver of microbes and viruses because?
It is cold, there is no oxygen, and it is dark (no UV damage).
Describe the flu fragments discovered in 2007?
Fragments of genome of 1918 Spanish flu virus recovered from corpses buried in mass graves in Alaskan tundra
What is another definition of paleovirology?
Molecular (genomic) fossils: Primate genomes (including our own) are a graveyard of extinct retrovirus genomes acquired at different times during evolution.
How old is the oldest recognizable ERV (found in coral genome)?
600 million years old
Describe the impact of the smallpox virus
(Antoine Roman) plague, 165 AD: 5 million dead (2.5% of world population).
Native Americans: 12-20 million up to 95% of the entire population CFR up to 30%
Describe the impact of the influenza virus.
Most of the worst epidemics/ pandemics through human history have been due to influenza.
1918-19 1/3 of the world’s population (500 million people) became infected within 6 months 20-100 million dead worldwide. CFR > 4% which was quite deadly (normally 0.1 % for flu)
Describe the impact of the AIDS epidemic
78 million people infected between 1981 and 2015 39 million dead by 2015.