Bard Biologist Felicia Keesing: There Will Be More “Zoonotic” Viruses Where COVID Came From
We still know little about COVID-19, but one of the few certainties is that it is a zoonotic disease. This means that at some point in recent history it jumped from an animal to a human. Bard biologist Felicia Keesing’s work shows how a loss of biodiversity increases the risk of disease transmission. “More biodiversity equals more predators and parasites and therefore less density of any species hosting a pathogen,” says Professor Keesing. “But reduce that diversity and not only do you have more host species, but you also increase encounter rates between pathogens and hosts.”
Post Date: 04-27-2020
Post Date: 04-27-2020