Sharp increase expected in animal-to-human infections

Most outbreaks of Filoviruses (Ebola virus, Marburg virus) occurred in Africa. — AFP

Four types of animal-to-human (zoonotic) Infections have been increasing at an “exponential rate,” amid a general pattern of increasingly larger and more frequent “spillover” epidemics, finds an analysis of 60 years of historical epidemiological data, published in the open access journal BMJ Global Health.

Based on current trends, these four types of viral pathogens are collectively set to kill 12 times as many people in 2050 as they did in 2020, warn the researchers.