A team of researchers has traced the evolution of rabies using an innovative method, thus offering new perspectives for understanding the disease.
- Rabies still kills thousands of people without access to the vaccine.
- A team of researchers was able to trace the evolution of rabies to better understand its evolution.
- Using a method of gene concatenation, the researchers were able to trace the history of the disease on a global scale.
Rabies is a fatal disease that primarily affects animals, but can also be transmitted to humans through bites or scratches. Despite advances in the prevention and treatment of rabies, thousands of people still lose their lives each year because they do not have access to the vaccine. According to the Pasteur Institute, the virus “is present in saliva infected animals (dog, cat, wild mammal, etc.)“. And its transmission “occurs through direct contact with the saliva of an animal contaminated with bite, scratching or licking on the excoriated skin of a mucous membrane. Human-to-human contamination is exceptional (organ transplants, transmission from mother to fetus)“. In France, rabies has caused 23 deaths (ANSES) since 1970 compared to 55,000 worldwide.
Researchers trace the evolution of rabies
A team of researchers recently published a study in the journal Nature Communications, in which they used a novel method to trace the evolution of rabies. By analyzing thousands of DNA sequences from strains of the rabies virus, ranging from the oldest to the most recent, they were able to reconstruct chronologically the evolution of the disease over time. This method consists of assembling partial genetic sequences from different virus strains to form a complete sequence. By combining information from different strains, researchers were able to trace the evolutionary history of rabies and examine the spread of the disease.
Using DNA sequence analysis, scientists were able to geographically reconstruct episodes of human introduction of canine rabies around the world. They also looked at the impact of European colonization on the spread of the disease. These results provide valuable historical information on rabies transmission routes globally.
A method that opens new perspectives
The gene concatenation method used in this study could also be applied to other viruses, thus offering new possibilities for the prevention and treatment of various pathologies. This research underscores the importance of using vast amounts of genetic data to better understand the evolution of diseases and their spread. It paves the way for similar research on other pathogens, using vast amounts of hitherto underexploited genetic data.
