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Most Pandemic Viruses Show Little Adaptation Before Infecting Humans
The study found most animal viruses can infect humans without prior evolutionary changes, challenging assumptions about viral adaptation before spillover, UCSD researchers said.
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5 Articles
Outbreak Origins Unveiled by Zoonotic Virus Natural Selection
In a new study published in Cell titled, “Dynamics of natural selection preceding human viral epidemics and pandemics,” researchers from University of California, San Diego (UCSD) report that most zoonotic viruses, including the cause of COVID-19, do not show evidence that acquiring adaptive mutations is required to sustain human-to-human transmission. Joel Wertheim, PhD, senior author and professor of medicine in the Division of Infectious Dis…
A new study concludes that most viruses with the potential to generate pandemics already have the ability to infect humans in animal reservoirs and do not require adaptation: selection appears after sustained transmission. The response is not only in the virus, but in human exposure and early detection: the finding is key to determining the origin of COVID-19.
ucsd.edu
NewswiseRecent Pandemic Viruses Jumped to Humans Without Prior Adaptation, UC San Diego Study Finds
There is no evolutionary signal suggesting that these viruses were being “pre-adapted” for humans prior to their outbreaks. Instead, measurable changes in selection typically appeared only after sustained transmission began in people.
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