Could Egyptian mummies tell us more about the history of coronaviruses?
Authors: AbdulRahman A Saied, Jaffer Shah, Asmaa A Metwally, Hani Aiash
Journal: The Lancet Microbe (2021)

Based on paleogenetics, Egyptian mummified individuals are a viable source for the recovery of ancient bacterial and viral DNA and for providing insights into pathogen evolution and disease history in unique historical contexts.1Neukamm J Pfrengle S Molak M et al.2000-year-old pathogen genomes reconstructed from metagenomic analysis of Egyptian mummified individuals.BMC Biol. 2020; 18: 108Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar Studies of Egyptian mummies have shown that the presence of various infectious and non-infectious agents and their associated diseases in the modern era originated from ancient times, like Schistosoma haematobium,2Ruffer MA Note on the presence of "Bilharzia haematobia" in Egyptian mummies of the twentieth dynasty [1250–1000 BC].BMJ. 1910; 1: 16Crossref PubMed Scopus (161) Google Scholar Mycobacterium leprae strain,1Neukamm J Pfrengle S Molak M et al.2000-year-old pathogen genomes reconstructed from metagenomic analysis of Egyptian mummified individuals.BMC Biol. 2020; 18: 108Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar, 3Monot M Honoré N Garnier T et al.Comparative genomic and phylogeographic analysis of Mycobacterium leprae.Nat Genet. 2009; 41: 1282-1289Crossref PubMed Scopus (310) Google Scholar human hepatitis B virus,1Neukamm J Pfrengle S Molak M et al.2000-year-old pathogen genomes reconstructed from metagenomic analysis of Egyptian mummified individuals.BMC Biol. 2020; 18: 108Crossref PubMed Scopus (23) Google Scholar Plasmodium falciparum,4Khairat R Ball M Chang C-CH et al.First insights into the metagenome of Egyptian mummies using next-generation sequencing.J Appl Genet. 2013; 54: 309-325Crossref PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar Toxoplasma gondii,4Khairat R Ball M Chang C-CH et al.First insights into the metagenome of Egyptian mummies using next-generation sequencing.J Appl Genet. 2013; 54: 309-325Crossref PubMed Scopus (48) Google Scholar Corynebacterium spp (diphtheria),5Zink A Reischl U Wolf H Nerlich AG Miller R Corynebacterium in ancient Egypt.Med Hist. 2001; 45: 267-272Crossref PubMed Google Scholar Bubonic plague,6Panagiotakopulu E Pharaonic Egypt and the origins of plague.J Biogeogr. 2004; 31: 269-275Crossref Scopus (37) Google Scholar Smallpox,7Fenner F Henderson DA Arita I Jezek Z Ladnyi ID The history of smallpox and its spread around the world.in: Fenner F Smallpox and its eradication. World Health Organization, Geneva19881460Google Scholar tuberculosis,8Zink AR Sola C Reischl U et al.Characterization of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex DNAs from Egyptian mummies by spoligotyping.J Clin Microbiol. 2003; 41: 359-367Crossref PubMed Scopus (191) Google Scholar atherosclerosis,9Thompson RC Allam AH Lombardi GP et al.Atherosclerosis across 4000 years of human history: the Horus study of four ancient populations.Lancet. 2013; 381: 1211-1222Summary Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (264) Google Scholar poliovirus (poliomyelitis),10Mitchell JK Study of a mummy affected with anterior poliomyelitis. Transactions of the Association of American Physicians, Tallahassee, FL1900Google Scholar and Leishmania donovani.11Zink AR Spigelman M Schraut B Greenblatt CL Nerlich AG Donoghue HD Leishmaniasis in ancient Egypt and upper Nubia.Emerg Infect Dis. 2006; 121616Crossref PubMed Scopus (68) Google Scholar Additionally, there have been recent efforts to do genome sequencing analysis of influenza virus potentially preserved in the bodies of ancient Egyptian mummies.12Live Science1918 flu mutated to become deadlier in later waves, century-old lungs reveal.https://www.livescience.com/1918-flu-variant-deadlier-later-waves-lung-tissue.htmlDate: 2021Date accessed: July 23, 2021Google Scholar Furthermore, other types of ancient mummies have enabled the reconstruction of an ancient Helicobacter pylori genome.13Maixner F Krause-Kyora B Turaev D et al.The 5300-year-old Helicobacter pylori genome of the Iceman.Science. 2016; 351: 162-165Crossref PubMed Scopus (158) Google Scholar By studying ancient Egyptian mummies and mummified animals and using molecular clock techniques, useful information regarding coronavirus evolution could be learned. Considering the nature of coronaviruses to mutate and their presence in a wide range of hosts (common characteristics of many pathogens isolated from Egyptian mummies, such as hepatitis B virus and poliovirus), and the various reports mentioning that many respiratory diseases had affected ancient Egyptians, it is probable that coronaviruses were present in ancient times. Analysis of historical specimens will deepen our understanding of virus evolution, enhancing our ability to predict and interpret the impact of various genetic changes. This understanding could ultimately be applied to the management of modern viral infections. This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet.com/microbe on September 13, 2021 This online publication has been corrected. The corrected version first appeared at thelancet.com/microbe on September 13, 2021 We declare no competing interests. Correction to Lancet Microbe 2021; 2: e425Saied AA, Shah J, Metwally AA, Aiash H. Could Egyptian mummies tell us more about the history of coronaviruses? Lancet Microbe 2021; 2: e425—In this Correspondence, the author name AbdulRahman A Saied was incorrectly presented. This correction has been made as of Sept 13, 2021 Full-Text PDF Open Access