Historic and Prehistoric Epidemics

Dear Colleagues,

All life forms on Earth are, and have been, challenged by parasites with pathogenic properties. Attacks by such pathogens, when the number of hosts is sufficiently large, can cause massive outbreaks of infection and disease, as the current COVID-19 pandemic illustrates. However, epidemics are not something new. In fact, there is an abundance of disease outbreak stories from the past. Examples include the famous "Spanish" flu of 1918, the sweating sickness, which ravaged England and parts of Europe in the late 15th and 16th centuries, and of course the plague, cholera and smallpox, which have been around from the Middle Ages to the present.

Although historical accounts are highly descriptive and can often be used to retrace epidemics, knowledge of the actual pathogens involved is a recent advance. The relatively new fields of ancient DNA and paleovirology have paved the way for actual research into the epidemics of the past. Ancient DNA can be taken by extracting genomic material, which can contain the responsible microbes, from buried victims or stored tissue remains; paleovirological techniques work by "digging" for viral fossils from the ever-growing number of genome assemblies. Such endogenous viral elements can be used to reconstruct the prehistoric spread of these viruses. The molecular knowledge of historic and prehistoric epidemics may help us understand the past and the present, and prepare us for the future.

Dr. Antoinette van der Kuyl
Guest Editor

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