Climate Change, Deforestation Drive Bat Virus Spillover Into Humans
Bats that experience food shortages due to climate change and habitat loss end up roosting in urban settings, where they shed more of the deadly Hendra virus.
Climate Change, Deforestation Drive Bat Virus Spillover Into Humans
Climate Change, Deforestation Drive Bat Virus Spillover Into Humans
Bats that experience food shortages due to climate change and habitat loss end up roosting in urban settings, where they shed more of the deadly Hendra virus.
Bats that experience food shortages due to climate change and habitat loss end up roosting in urban settings, where they shed more of the deadly Hendra virus.
Amy Macneill, The Conversation | Aug 19, 2022 | 5 min read
The monkeypox virus can easily spread between humans and animals. A veterinary virologist explains how the virus could go from people to wild animals in the US—and why that could be a problem.
Canadian researchers identify a highly mutated variant of the virus in white-tailed deer and link it to a human COVID-19 case in the region—though they emphasize that the infection risk to people is low.
Researchers used sequencing data and phenotypic traits to predict which of 5,400 species were most likely to be susceptible to contracting and spreading the virus back to humans.
Multiple white tailed deer tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 likely transmitted from humans, a study finds, indicating the species could act as a reservoir for the virus.
A letter signed by 18 researchers argues that hypotheses about zoonotic spillover or accidental lab release both “remain viable” in the absence of additional evidence.
Researchers involved in a long-term project to identify viruses of concern have now assessed the risk factors that could help forecast which pathogens are the most likely to spillover from wildlife to people.
Whole genome sequencing of the virus infecting the farm animals showed that it spread from the workers to the mink and back, indicating that an animal could serve as a viral reservoir.
Government authorities say because the animals are good hosts of the novel coronavirus, and this new viral variant could undermine vaccine efforts against COVID-19, they are destroying the nation's entire stock of mink.
Animals that can host pathogens dangerous to humans, such as rodents, birds, and bats, are proportionately more common in human-occupied spaces than in remote areas.