Crossover infections

Science In Action

As bird flu is found in US farm cats fed on raw cow’s milk, chimpanzees are observed eating infected bat dung instead of vegetables. There is a constant threat of infections crossing from species to us and also from species to other species, particularly because of what we do. That is, after all, what happened to start the pandemic.

We hear about the ongoing struggles of the Chinese virologist who broke his instructions in China in order to share the first COVID genetic data.

And a strange tale of how tobacco growing might provide bat viruses a path into other species.

Presenter: Roland Pease Producer: Alex Mansfield Production co-ordinator: Jana Bennett-Holesworth

Image: Cows on an American cattle farm (Credit: Adam Davis/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)