ArticleeLife2021
Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of human pathogenic viruses into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade.
Article in eLife, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 44 citations in OpenAlex.
- Reconciling fast Hepatitis B evolutionary rates with ancient co-divergence.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Distinct evolutionary patterns of endemic and emerging parvoviruses and the origin of a new pandemic virus.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Analysis of medieval burials from Ibiza reveals genetic and pathogenic diversity during the Islamic period.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Recovery of an 18bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Ancient DNA insights into diverse pathogens and their hosts.Nature reviews. Genetics · 2026Review
- Intra-Host Evolution During Relapsing Parvovirus B19 Infection in Immunocompromised Patients.Viruses · 2025Article
- Big Epidemiology: The Birth, Life, Death, and Resurgence of Diseases on a Global Timescale.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- AncestryPainter 2.0: Visualizing Ancestry Composition and Admixture History Graph.Genome biology and evolution · 2024Article
- Modelling cultural responses to disease spread in Neolithic Trypillia mega-settlements.Journal of the Royal Society, Interface · 2024Article
- Archaeology meets environmental genomics: implementing sedaDNA in the study of the human past.Archaeological and anthropological sciences · 2024Article
- Germs, genes and soil: tales of pathogens past.Nature · 2023Article
- The Legacy of Infectious Disease Exposure on the Genomic Diversity of Indigenous Southern Mexicans.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Article
- An Adagio for Viruses, Played Out on Ancient DNA.Genome biology and evolution · 2023Review
- Article
- A Timeframe for SARS-CoV-2 Genomes: A Proof of Concept for Postmortem Interval Estimations.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Article
- Historic and Prehistoric Epidemics: An Overview of Sources Available for the Study of Ancient Pathogens.Epidemiologia (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Phylogeographic analysis reveals an ancient East African origin of human herpes simplex virus 2 dispersal out-of-Africa.Nature communications · 2022Article
- Review
- Genomic analysis of a parasite invasion: Colonization of the Americas by the blood fluke Schistosoma mansoni.Molecular ecology · 2022Article
- Advances in multi-omics research on viral hepatitis.Frontiers in microbiology · 2022Review
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13 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
After the European colonization of the Americas, there was a dramatic population collapse of the Indigenous inhabitants caused in part by the introduction of new pathogens. Although there is much speculation on the etiology of the Colonial epidemics, direct evidence for the presence of specific viruses during the Colonial era is lacking. To uncover the diversity of viral pathogens during this period, we designed an enrichment assay targeting ancient DNA (aDNA) from viruses of clinical importance and applied it to DNA extracts from individuals found in a Colonial hospital and a Colonial chapel (16th-18th century) where records suggest that victims of epidemics were buried during important outbreaks in Mexico City. This allowed us to reconstruct three ancient human parvovirus B19 genomes and one ancient human hepatitis B virus genome from distinct individuals. The viral genomes are similar to African strains, consistent with the inferred morphological and genetic African ancestry of the hosts as well as with the isotopic analysis of the human remains, suggesting an origin on the African continent. This study provides direct molecular evidence of ancient viruses being transported to the Americas during the transatlantic slave trade and their subsequent introduction to New Spain. Altogether, our observations enrich the discussion about the etiology of infectious diseases during the Colonial period in Mexico.
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