By Sarah Griffiths Some people may think that the spread of herpes is a modern problem. But scientists have found that Herpes Simplex Virus-1, which manifests itself as cold sores, infected hominids before the evolutionary split from chimpanzees, six million years ago. While genital herpes, or HSV-2, jumped from ancient chimpanzees to ancestors of modern humans - Homo erectus - approximately 1.6 million years ago, they claim. Scientists studied the cross-species transmission, from chimps (stock image pictured) to human ancestors using advanced models of molecular evolution. They found the HSV-1, which manifests itself as cold sores, infected hominids before the evolutionary split from chimpanzees six million years ago
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Genital herpes or HSV-2 jumped from ancient chimpanzees to ancestors of modern humans - Homo erectus - approximately 1.6 million years ago
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HSV-1, which manifests itself as cold sores, infected hominids before the evolutionary split from chimpanzees six million years ago
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University of California San Diego scientists studied the cross-species transmission using advanced models of molecular evolution
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Understanding how viruses evolved could help experts prevent them
allowed the experts to determine when @placeholder and HSV-2 were introduced