Mary Wilson
Well-known member
By Ann Gibbons
Oct. 7, 2020 , 11:00 AM
The virus that causes rubella, or German measles, finally has company. Scientists had never identified close relatives of the virus, leaving it as the only member of its genus, Rubivirus. But with a report in this week’s issue of Nature, rubella has gained a family. One of its two newfound relatives infects bats in Uganda; the other killed animals from three different species in a German zoo and was found in wild mice living nearby as well.
The findings strongly suggest that at some point in the past, a similar virus jumped from animals to humans, giving rise to today’s rubella virus, the researchers say.
doi:10.1126/science.abf1520
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...viruses-suggest-rubella-jumped-animals-humans
Oct. 7, 2020 , 11:00 AM
The virus that causes rubella, or German measles, finally has company. Scientists had never identified close relatives of the virus, leaving it as the only member of its genus, Rubivirus. But with a report in this week’s issue of Nature, rubella has gained a family. One of its two newfound relatives infects bats in Uganda; the other killed animals from three different species in a German zoo and was found in wild mice living nearby as well.
The findings strongly suggest that at some point in the past, a similar virus jumped from animals to humans, giving rise to today’s rubella virus, the researchers say.
doi:10.1126/science.abf1520
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/202...viruses-suggest-rubella-jumped-animals-humans