Interspecies Virus Transmission

[Ihe]

Hey guys, hoping to clear up a doubt I have, as it has come up in the planning of a new story I got my paws on, and it could be an important plot point. It's about a boomerang effect on cross-species virus contagion.

It's just the one question, and it might be out there: Can a non-lethal virus in an animal jump to a human (lethal to humans), then jump back to the same animal and suddenly be lethal to it after having "evolved" in the human host for some time?

All thoughts welcome.

 

[RX-79G]

Short answer: Sure. Viruses constantly evolve and interact with the DNA of a host. A researcher in immunology may have some specific criticisms, but the general notion isn't crazy.

 

[tinkerdan]

It's no crazier than the notion that virus may be a factor in evolutionary leaps.

 

[ErikB]

Hey guys, hoping to clear up a doubt I have, as it has come up in the planning of a new story I got my paws on, and it could be an important plot point. It's about a boomerang effect on cross-species virus contagion.

It's just the one question, and it might be out there: Can a non-lethal virus in an animal jump to a human (lethal to humans), then jump back to the same animal and suddenly be lethal to it after having "evolved" in the human host for some time?

All thoughts welcome.

In most cases animals that serve as a viral host with immunity to a particular form can exchange the virus which affects humans differently or similarly.

If it is deadly to humans as is then the virus is unlikely to evolve into a new or revised strain. However a virus that is quick to spread has a greater likelihood of undergoing some aberrancies and could potentially mutate.

That said, it is still highly probable (though not always absolute) that a virus will not kill the original host unless the changes in that pathogen are extreme.

Many other animals have a much higher resistance to bacteria, pathogens, and viruses that would do in a human rather swiftly.

In other words, highly unlikely. This coming to you from the biologist side of me. But here's the skinny, its science fiction and the writer side of me would say go for it if it serves your purposes. You can always make the improbable possible in written works.

Cheers and best wishes with your project!

 

[goldhawk]

The most interesting results are when two viruses of different strains enter the same cell. Most of the time they complete with each other and destroy the cell. But on very rare occasions, they combine to form a completely new strain. And since their completely different, their hosts done have immunity against them and they spread quickly. This happens every few years with the flu virus. Suddenly there will be an outbreak of a new strain leaving the medical community scrambling to produce new vaccines for it.

 

[Ihe]

It's no crazier than the notion that virus may be a factor in evolutionary leaps.

I did read something along those lines somewhere. They could change your DNA by "fusing" their genetic material with your cells', or something like that. Apparently we have DNA traces of things that could've been viruses that infected our ancestors long time ago, IIRC.

In other words, highly unlikely. This coming to you from the biologist side of me. But here's the skinny, its science fiction and the writer side of me would say go for it if it serves your purposes. You can always make the improbable possible in written works.

The writer side of me only hears "it's not TOTALLY impossible", and that's more than good enough for me.