February 17, 2021

12:00pm Zoom Webinar

Raina Plowright
Montana State University

" Pathogen Spillover: Lessons Learned from Emerging Bat Viruses "

The rapid, global spread and human health impacts of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2; the agent of COVID-19 disease) have demonstrated humanity’s vulnerability to zoonotic disease pandemics from bats. While most emerging zoonotic infections originate in wildlife, mechanisms driving this process are rarely elucidated. We show how pathogens are transmitted from bats to humans in different contexts. We show one system where loss of winter habitat interacts with climatic factors to drive henipavirus spillover from fruit bats to livestock and how habitat restoration could stop spillover.

Host: Jamie Lloyd-Smith