Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Smallpox DNA in ancient Inca mummies shows the virus came from Europe
DNA samples collected from Inca mummies have confirmed the presence of a strain of smallpox that first emerged in Europe.
“We interpreted this as the first direct molecular evidence of smallpox introduction into the Americas through European colonisation,” says Shigeki Nakagome at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Smallpox was the scourge of humanity for centuries until its eradication in the 1980s, through vaccination, from all but a few high-security medical laboratories. Severe strains of the virus had a mortality rate of up to a third and left survivors with scars from the blisters and scabs that cover the skin and fill with pus.
Read more: newscientist.com/article/2582442-smallpox-dna-in-ancient-inca-mummies-shows-virus-came-from-europe
Smallpox DNA in ancient Inca mummies shows the virus came from Europe
DNA samples collected from Inca mummies have confirmed the presence of a strain of smallpox that first emerged in Europe.
“We interpreted this as the first direct molecular evidence of smallpox introduction into the Americas through European colonisation,” says Shigeki Nakagome at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Smallpox was the scourge of humanity for centuries until its eradication in the 1980s, through vaccination, from all but a few high-security medical laboratories. Severe strains of the virus had a mortality rate of up to a third and left survivors with scars from the blisters and scabs that cover the skin and fill with pus.
Read more: newscientist.com/article/2582442-smallpox-dna-in-ancient-inca-mummies-shows-virus-came-from-europe
