Spillover Classics
What is the term for a pathogen jumping from an animal into a human for the first time?
What is spillover
These flying mammals carry many viruses without getting sick due to strong immune systems.
What are bats?
Markets where wild animals are sold in crowded conditions fall under what category of spillover risk?
What are wet markets / wildlife trade?
HIV is believed to have originated from which animal group?
What are chimpanzees?
Mosquitoes transmit viruses not through their blood, but through what bodily fluid?
What is saliva?
Over 60% of human infectious diseases come from what source?
What are animals / zoonotic origins
These animals act as “viral reassortment vessels,” letting human, swine, and bird flu strains mix.
What are pigs
Clearing forests pushes bats into human settlements, increasing spillover risk. What is this process called?
What is deforestation?
This hemorrhagic virus, often traced to bats, has caused repeated outbreaks in Central and West Africa.
What is Ebola?
Rat-borne plague spreads primarily by what organism biting humans?
What are fleas?
Name one of the three steps required for spillover: Contact, Infection, and ________.
What is Transmission?
What group of animals is the primary reservoir for avian influenza viruses like H5N1 and H7N9?
What are birds?
Climate change forces animals into new ranges. Name one type of animal whose territory expands due to warming.
What are bats, rodents, mosquitoes, etc.?
Nipah virus spread from bats to humans through which intermediary farm animal?
What are pigs?
The viral particles shed by birds that contaminate surfaces and bedding most commonly transmit what major disease?
What is avian influenza?
According to global health data, roughly what percentage of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic?
What is 75%?
Which primate-origin virus became a global pandemic and is believed to have emerged from chimpanzees?
What is HIV?
Humans, livestock, and wildlife sharing the same space increases contact. Which spillover condition does this worsen?
What is Contact?
Hantavirus typically spreads through airborne particles from the droppings of what animal?
What are rodents?
Which disease is spread when humans ingest oocysts shed in cat feces?
What is toxoplasmosis?
This phase of spillover occurs when a virus uses human cell structures to replicate and spread within the body.
What is Infection?
These desert animals are the main reservoir for MERS, a highly fatal coronavirus identified in 2012.
What are camels?
Extreme weather events drive wildlife into cities for food and shelter, helping viruses find new hosts. What global factor causes this?
What is climate change?
This 14th-century pandemic was transmitted by fleas carried on rats.
What is the Black Death / bubonic plague?
Viruses mutate to enter new hosts by changing their surface structures. What must this “key” allow them to do in a human?
What is enter host cells?