Scientists discover traces of ancient disease in 1,000-year-old religious text

Scientists recently discovered traces of an ancient disease in an unlikely place: the pages of a 1,000-year-old gospel book.The discovery, which centered on the York Gospels, was announced by University College Dublin (UCD) in early September.In a study recently published in Science Advances, UCD researchers traced thousands of years of evolution of the sheep pox virus using ancient DNA preserved in manuscripts and animal remains.The highly contagious disease affects sheep but is not known to infect humans.Researchers detected its DNA in the animal skins used to make parchment, according to the university.The York Gospels were written in Canterbury in the late 900s by Anglo-Saxon scribes and were later brought to York Minster — where they’ve been housed for centuries.Unexpectedly, researchers found traces of sheeppox virus on parchment made from calfskin and goatskin, suggesting either cross-species infections or contamination during the parchment-making process.Comparing the manuscripts with DNA recovered from Bronze Age sheep teeth, researchers found that sheeppox has plagued livestock for over 3,700 years.In a statement, UCD described the York Gospels as a “biological time capsule” that preserved evidence of the virus for centuries.“The research reveals that sheep pox has threatened livestock for more than 3,700 years,” the university said.“Unlike other skeletal material, teeth can preserve genetic evidence of infection over thousands of years, providing a valuable record of past outbreaks.”Sheeppox can spread rapidly through flocks and can be deadly, particularly for young animals — making outbreaks a potentially serious threat to livestock-dependent communities.“A highly contagious disease, sheeppox spreads rapidly and can affect large portions of a flock in a short time,” UCD said.“The disease is particularly dangerous because it can cause very high mortality rates, especially in young animals, and dramatically reduce productivity by d...