This theory has shaped how scientists look for new deadly pathogens - or try to predict which ones could cause future pandemics. For all these events to coincide is remarkably rare, the thinking went. One way scientists have described it is that a virus spilling over is, in a way, winning the lottery: The virus is in the right place at the right time, and on top of that, it has special, rare characteristics that allow it to infect people. Animal viruses tend to stay in their animal host. That whole time, I've heard the same idea repeated over and over again about spillovers: They are extremely rare. At some point, they jump - or "spill over" - into people.įor the past 10 years, I've been a global health reporter at NPR. They're often viruses that have been circulating in animals for decades, even centuries. Most new pathogens, up to 75%, come from animals. It centers on this idea of what's called spillover. Symptoms for the MERS virus in Kenya are unknown.įor decades, scientists pretty much thought they understood how pandemics, such as COVID-19, began. The pig coronavirus is associated with fever in children. Note: Dog coronavirus is associated with mild to moderate illness in adults but more severe respiratory symptoms in young children, including fever, coughing, difficulty breathing and pneumonia. 24, 2022) Emerging Microbes & Infections (Feb. 11, 2022), Clinical Infectious Diseases (Aug. Source: Dog coronavirus: Clinical Infectious Diseases (Feb.
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