The trouble with viruses is that they are constantly mutating. You get ones that are deadly, and you get ones that spread fast. If a deadly one picks up some fast spreading abilities, then we're in trouble.
There are a lot of things that have always lurked in rainforests & jungles and as these are cut back we come into contact with them - ebola is a classic example. If ebola ever mutates into something that spreads fast, we're pretty much screwed.
I think that's why everyone is so jittery when a new virus harmful to humans is identified. Depending on how it transmits itself, it could be beyond containment very rapidly.
If you wanted to be really cynical, you could view viruses as the planet's antibodies ridding it of troublesome humans.
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There are a lot of things that have always lurked in rainforests & jungles and as these are cut back we come into contact with them - ebola is a classic example. If ebola ever mutates into something that spreads fast, we're pretty much screwed.
I think that's why everyone is so jittery when a new virus harmful to humans is identified. Depending on how it transmits itself, it could be beyond containment very rapidly.
If you wanted to be really cynical, you could view viruses as the planet's antibodies ridding it of troublesome humans.