Tracking animal disease spread could help scientists spot the next COVID-19
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The veterinary telemedicine company VetNow is teaming up with Smithsonian scientists to detect animal disease outbreaks remotely—before these “zoonotic” viruses jump over to humans.
Throughout history, major disease outbreaks have started after a virus jumped from animals to humans. The 1918 Spanish flu started in birds. The bubonic plague originated in rats. Bats, for reasons still being explored, account for the majority of these zoonotic diseases—those germs and viruses that can pass from animals to humans, or vice versa. They’ve been linked to Ebola, SARS, and now COVID-19.