Lecture 1: Viruses and Viral Disease

Question 1

What is the oldest biological material with signs of viral disease?

Answer 1

Traces of smallpox postules on mummified head of Ramses V (3,161 year old mummy).

Question 2

Can some mummies or buried corpses from historical smallpox outbreaks remain infectious?

Answer 2

Not known but as of now not yet determined

Question 3

What is paleovirology?

Answer 3

Receding glaciers/melting ice sheets: Microbes trapped 3,000to 750,000 years ago have been released from ice cores.

Question 4

Have human live ancient viruses been found yet?

Answer 4

No

Question 5

What is an example of an ancient virus? (Example 1)

Answer 5

2014: Novel giant virus Pithovirus sibericum discovered in a sample of 30,000 year old Siberian permafrost (from 100 ft deep).

Question 6

Pithorvirus only infects/kills___

Answer 6

amoebae

Question 7

What is another type of ancient virus? (Example 2)

Answer 7

2015: Mollivirus sibericum (another giant virus of amoebae) was discovered in a sample of 30,000 year old Siberian permafrost.

Question 8

This was the 4th ancient virus recovered from permafrost:

Answer 8

Mollivirus sibericum

Question 9

Permafrost is a very good preserver of microbes and viruses because?

Answer 9

It is cold, there is no oxygen, and it is dark (no UV damage).

Question 10

Describe the flu fragments discovered in 2007?

Answer 10

Fragments of genome of 1918 Spanish flu virus recovered from corpses buried in mass graves in Alaskan tundra

Question 11

What is another definition of paleovirology?

Answer 11

Molecular (genomic) fossils: Primate genomes (including our own) are a graveyard of extinct retrovirus genomes acquired at different times during evolution.

Question 12

How old is the oldest recognizable ERV (found in coral genome)?

Answer 12

600 million years old

Question 13

Describe the impact of the smallpox virus

Answer 13

(Antoine Roman) plague, 165 AD: 5 million dead (2.5% of world population).
Native Americans: 12-20 million up to 95% of the entire population CFR up to 30%

Question 14

Describe the impact of the influenza virus.

Answer 14

Most of the worst epidemics/ pandemics through human history have been due to influenza.
1918-19 1/3 of the world’s population (500 million people) became infected within 6 months 20-100 million dead worldwide. CFR > 4% which was quite deadly (normally 0.1 % for flu)

Question 15

Describe the impact of the AIDS epidemic

Answer 15

78 million people infected between 1981 and 2015 39 million dead by 2015.

Question 16

Describe the impact of Polio

Answer 16

60,000 dead in the US alone in 1952 alone. 23 million total fatalities.

Question 17

Describe the impact of the COVID pandemic

Answer 17

614 million cases, 6.5 million dead, USA 96 million/ 1 million

Question 18

Describe the impact of the Spanish Flu

Answer 18

20-100 million or more people died worldwide 1919 world pop - 1.6 billion, 50 million deaths = 3% of world’s population.

Question 19

The first ever vaccine was in response to the ___ (1978).

Answer 19

smallpox outbreak

Question 20

What is the only human disease ever completely eradicated from the planet?

Answer 20

Smallpox, last known case is 1977

Question 21

Describe the impact of SARS 1

Answer 21

Acute and higher mortality rate though not super contagious
Only 8,096 known cases of the disease
BUT 774 deaths (an average mortality rate of 9.6%).