#sars-cov-2-origins

#sars-cov-2-origins

The strain the animals have contains a mutation allowing it to more easily transmit between mammals. It is also a different variation than the ones found in dairy cows and commercial poultry. This one is Eurasian in origin, first seen in 2022. It has been detected in birds that fly along the Pacific Flyway, and is responsible for a mass mortality event in 2023 in northern fur seals on an island in eastern Russia.

Risks of outbreaks with pandemic potential rise with increasing land-use change, biodiversity loss and climate change. The Pandemic Agreement adopted by the World Health Assembly in 2025 marks a historic shift that establishes the One Health approach as a legally binding obligation for pandemic prevention.

Bats carry a lot of very deadly pathogens like Ebola virus, Nipah, Hendra, coronavirus, and also rabies virus. People are finding more and more bat-borne viruses. When such viruses are transmitted to humans, the results are often fatal so there's a lot of interest in trying to prevent spillover in the first place.

For the first time, cameras in Africa captured a 'dynamic network' of wildlife interacting with thousands of infected bats believed to be carrying the Marburg virus, which is a rare but extremely dangerous disease that belongs to the same family as Ebola. The new videos revealed at least 14 different types of animals, including leopards, hyenas, monkeys, birds and rats, actively hunting herds of Egyptian fruit bats.

We see the percentage of outpatients' visits for influenza-like illnesses (proven influenza cases and not tested but similar cases) in 2025 and the beginning of 2026, compared to the last few years. The current outbreak is represented by a dark red line that is higher than in previous years and is expected to continue rising with the start of school this week.

Flu season is showing no signs of slowing down in California, with every region experiencing either high or very high levels of flu. In the Bay Area, the number of people testing positive for the virus has hit a new seasonal high, with 18.99% of flu tests coming back positive through Jan. 31, according to the latest numbers from the California Department of Public Health.

If you feel like everyone you know is dealing with a cough, cold and runny nose, it's not in your head. Multiple viruses, not just the flu, are currently circulating near season-high levels in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to wastewater data. Flu tests show seasonal influenza activity continues to be elevated in the region, although it's down from the season-high peak at the end of December, according to the California Department of Public Health.