This process is known as zoonotic spillover. Zoonotic viruses are those that naturally occur in animals but can cross over to infect humans. These viruses can mutate and adapt to the human host, leading to severe illnesses and sometimes death. Examples of zoonotic viruses include:
1. Influenza viruses: The flu virus can infect various animal species, including birds, pigs, and occasionally other mammals. Certain strains of the virus, such as H1N1 and H5N1, have caused pandemics and severe respiratory illness in humans.
2. Coronaviruses: Coronaviruses primarily circulate in animals like bats, camels, and civets. However, some coronaviruses, including the viruses responsible for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), and the recent COVID-19 pandemic, have crossed over to humans, causing severe respiratory diseases.
3. Filoviruses: Filoviruses like Ebola and Marburg primarily infect non-human primates and bats. However, sporadic outbreaks have occurred in humans, leading to life-threatening hemorrhagic fevers.
4. Rabies virus: Rabies mainly circulates in wild animals such as bats, raccoons, and skunks. If an infected animal bites a human, the virus can be transmitted, resulting in a fatal neurological disease.
5. Hendra and Nipah viruses: Both these viruses originate in bats and can cause severe respiratory and neurological diseases in humans. They have led to outbreaks in several countries, primarily affecting individuals in close contact with infected animals, particularly pigs.
Many factors contribute to zoonotic spillover, including the increasing overlap between human populations and wildlife, habitat destruction, the wildlife trade, and global travel. Monitoring and understanding these viruses in animal populations are crucial to prevent future pandemics and mitigate the potential lethal outcomes of such infections.
Viruses that infect animals can mutate to infect humans, often with lethal results.
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