• Diverse variola virus (smallpox) strains were widespread in northern Europe in the Viking Age 

      Mühlemann, Barbara; Vinner, Lasse; Margaryan, Ashot; Wilhelmson, Helene; Castro, Constanza De La Fuente; Allentoft, Morten E.; Damgaard, Peter De Barros; Hansen, Anders J.; Nielsen, Sofie Holtsmark; Strand, Lisa Mariann; Bill, Jan; Buzhilova, Alexandra; Pushkina, Tamara; Falys, Ceri; Khartanovich, Valeri; Moiseyev, Vyacheslav; Jørkov, Marie Louise Schjellerup; Sørensen, Palle Østergaard; Magnusson, Yvonne; Gustin, Ingrid; Schroeder, Hannes; Sutter, Gerd; Smith, Geoffrey L.; Drosten, Christian; Fouchier, Ron A. M.; Smith, Derek J.; Willerslev, Eske; Jones, Terry C.; Sikora, Martin (Peer reviewed; Journal article, 2020)
      Humans have a notable capacity to withstand the ravages of infectious diseases. Smallpox killed millions of people but drove Jenner's invention of vaccination, which eventually led to the annihilation of this virus, declared ...