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.
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.
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.
A study proposes that habitat for bats—and their accompanying coronaviruses—has increased in southern Asia over the last century, but experts debate the reliability of the analysis.
An investigation by the World Health Organization into the origins of COVID-19 will instead focus on the virus’s animal origins and the possibility of spread through frozen foods.
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.
