Coronaviruses in Bats

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These seem to be what we call kind of pre adapted to make those jumps. These are ones that do not have to undergo extensive evolution, like human to human to become transmissible within people. They already bind to receptors on the host in the humans. So they're ready to go. And so that's what we're trying to figure out with this one is, is there an intermediate animal involved here? There was some evidence that maybe pangolins can be involved, but they don't have like a smoking gun there quite yet.

This is a special episode of Mindscape, thrown together quickly. Many thanks to Tara Smith for joining me on short notice. Tara is an epidemiologist, and a great person to talk to about the novel coronavirus (and its associated disease, COVID-19) pandemic currently threatening the world. We talk about what viruses are, how they spread, and a lot of the science behind virology and pandemics. We also take a practical turn, talking about what measures (washing hands, social distancing, self-isolation) are useful at combating the spread of the virus, and which (wearing masks) are probably not. Then we look to the future, to ask what the endgame here is; Tara suggests that the kind of drastic measure we are currently putting up with might last a long time indeed.

Tara Smith received her Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Toledo. She is currently Professor of Epidemiology at the Kent State University College of Public Health. She has researched and written extensively about diseases such as ebola and MRSA. She is an active science communicator, and writes regular columns for SELF magazine.

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