Ancient viral genomes reveal introduction of HBV and B19V into Mexico during the transatlantic slave trade

Abstract

26 After the European colonization of the Americas there was a dramatic population 27 collapse of the Indigenous inhabitants caused in part by the introduction of new 28 pathogens. Although there is much speculation on the etiology of the Colonial 29 epidemics, direct evidence for the presence of specific viruses during the Colonial 30 era is lacking. To uncover the diversity of viral pathogens during this period, we 31 designed an enrichment assay targeting ancient DNA (aDNA) from viruses of clinical 32 importance and applied it on DNA extracts from individuals found in a Colonial 33 hospital and a Colonial chapel (16th c. – 18th c.) where records suggest victims of 34 epidemics were buried during important outbreaks in Mexico City. This allowed us 35 to reconstruct three ancient human parvovirus B19 genomes, and one ancient 36 human hepatitis B virus genome from distinct individuals. The viral genomes are 37 similar to African strains, consistent with the inferred morphological and genetic 38 African ancestry of the hosts as well as with the isotopic analysis of the human 39 remains, suggesting an origin on the African continent. This study provides direct 40 molecular evidence of ancient viruses being transported to the Americas during the 41 transatlantic slave trade and their subsequent introduction to New Spain. Altogether, 42 our observations enrich the discussion about the etiology of infectious diseases 43 during the Colonial period in Mexico. 44 45 46 47 48 2 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.06.05.137083; this version posted March 15, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC 4.0 International license. 49