Ancient genomes reveal 2,500-year history of human herpesvirus integration

Researchers have reconstructed ancient genomes of human betaherpesvirus 6A and 6B (HHV-6A/B) from human remains more than two millennia old, providing direct genomic evidence that these viruses have been evolving with humans since at least the Iron Age. The international study, led by the University of Vienna and the University of Tartu and published in Science Advances, shows a long history of HHV-6 integration into human chromosomes and suggests that HHV-6A lost the ability to integrate early in its history.

HHV-6B infects about 90% of children by age two and is the main cause of roseola infantum, a common childhood illness. Both HHV-6A and HHV-6B typically establish lifelong latent infections, and their ability to integrate into human DNA can, in rare cases, make viral sequences inheritable—present in roughly 1% of people today.

The team screened nearly 4,000 archaeological human skeletal samples from across Europe and identified 11 ancient viral genomes. The oldest came from a young girl in Iron Age Italy (1100–600 BCE). Other genomes came from medieval England, Belgium and Estonia, while HHV-6B was also found in samples from Italy and early historic Russia.

Several medieval English individuals carried inherited forms of HHV-6B, representing the earliest known carriers of chromosomally integrated human herpesviruses. The Belgian site of Sint-Truiden produced the largest number of cases, with both HHV-6A and HHV-6B present in the same population.

Key Topics

Science, Sint-truiden, Roseola Infantum, Iron Age