Thanks to Chen Qi for the link to this story in Science Daily: Common Cold Virus Came From Birds About 200 Years Ago. It deals with the history of human metapneumovirus (HMPV). Excerpt:
"HMPV was first discovered in 2001, but studies have shown that the virus has been circulating in humans for at least 50 years," said Professor Dr Ron Fouchier from ErasmusMC in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
"HMPV is closely related to Avian metapneumovirus C (AMPV-C), which infects birds. Because of the similarity, scientists have suggested that HMPV emerged from a bird virus that crossed the species barrier to infect humans."
Metapneumoviruses have high evolutionary rates, similar to those of other RNA viruses such as influenza, hepatitis C and SARS. By understanding the evolution and emergence of these viruses the scientists hope to develop ways of monitoring and predicting the emergence of new pathogenic viruses.
"We investigated the evolutionary history of metapneumoviruses using genetic information available for numerous strains of HMPV and AMPV-C circulating in humans and birds," said Professor Dr Fouchier.
"We calculated that the moment of divergence between HMPV and AMPV-C occurred approximately 200 years ago. Therefore, HMPV probably originates from an AMPV-C like virus that crossed the species barrier to infect humans around that time."
