At the viral chatter stage of an outbreak, pathogens are just starting to infect people in sporadic bursts. It’s a sign that a pandemic may be on the horizon.

The virus that causes eastern equine encephalitis, or EEE, has evolved to infect mosquitoes. To be able to spread between people, however, it faces extra challenges.

Whether intentional or not, the way mega-settlements in southeastern Europe from 6,000 years ago were laid out would have cut down on the spread of disease.

Two rabies epidemics in animals spurred a state health emergency in Texas and a program that oversees annual mass wildlife vaccination. Millions of doses have been distributed since the ‘90s.

Infectious diseases can spill over from animals to humans as well as spill back. Each cross-species transmission gives pathogens a chance to evolve and spread even further.

Alaskapox was discovered in 2015 and has generally only caused mild illness – until now.

Needed: less wild meat in cities, more wildlife experts in public health.

A new study estimates that $22 billion to $30 billion dollars per year needs to be spent to maintain forests and reduce the likelihood of a pathogen jumping from wildlife to humans.

Yellow fever, malaria and Ebola all spilled over from animals to humans at the edges of tropical forests. The new coronavirus is the latest zoonosis.

The smallpox virus appears to have been with humanity for millennia before a global vaccination drive wiped it out. Current genome research suggests how smallpox spread and where it came from.