Ancient sheep virus found hiding in medieval parchment

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Scientists detected an ancient sheep virus in medieval parchment, which may have remained dormant in historical documents for a long time. Studies show that its genetic sequence is similar to that of modern sheep viruses, but no evidence of direct infectivity was found.

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S Science News en 2026-09-02 10:00

Researchers discovered a new sequence of sheep pox virus from a medieval parchment, revealing the time and manner in which the virus emerged. This newly identified sequence of sheep pox virus indicates that the virus existed and lurked in ancient documents since early human history. By extracting and analyzing the genetic information in these ancient samples, the research team successfully reconstructed the virus’s evolutionary path and its connection to human activities.