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Smallpox was once one of humanity’s most devastating diseases, but its origin is shrouded in mystery. For years, scientific estimates of when the smallpox virus first emerged have been at odds with historical records. Now, a new study reveals that the virus dates back 2,000 years further than scientists have previously shown, verifying historical sources and confirming for the first time that the disease has plagued human societies since ancient times.

Researchers from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency, have detected antibodies to a filovirus in Australian bats for the first time.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, microbiologists have been working tirelessly to understand SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, and its implications for public health. The Microbiology Society’s vibrant community of microbiologists have been amongst those on the frontline battling the novel coronavirus to protect the public, whilst learning to navigate the restrictions as normality ceased.

The Microbiology Society is pleased to announce that registration and abstract submission for Europic 2022 are now open. The Focused Meeting takes place at the Harrogate Majestic Hotel and Spa, Harrogate, UK from 5–9 June 2022.

The October 2021 edition of Microbiology Today is available to read online now. This issue, titled ‘SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19’, showcases microbiologists’ collaborative efforts to build our understanding of SARS-CoV-2, since its emergence, to improve COVID-19 management and prevention.

SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is an airborne respiratory virus which can be transmitted between people in fine droplets that persist in the air. Critically, some COVID-positive individuals can transmit virus when asymptomatic, a key factor in the rapid spread of this virus throughout the world over the past 18 months.

Research published today in the Journal of General Virology has identified missed cases of SARS-CoV-2 by retrospective testing of throat swabs.

Researchers at the University of Nottingham screened 1,660 routine diagnostic specimens which had been collected at a Nottingham hospital between 2 January and 11 March 2020 and tested for SARS-CoV-2 by PCR. At this stage of the pandemic, there was very little COVID-19 testing available in hospitals, and to qualify patients had to meet a strict criterion, including recent travel to certain countries in Asia or contact with a known positive case.

Today, researchers published an in-depth look at the SARS-CoV-2 mutations that have taken place during the past year in the Journal of General Virology. The review discusses the findings of over 180 research articles and follows the changes that have taken place in the SARS-CoV-2 genome, and the variants that have occurred as a result.