Crossover

[michejay]

I would like to know if this virus can lie dormant in your body and is it possible that it could join with a flu virus to become more deadly much more quickly with a very high percentage of mortality rates. Also their is a lot being said about this so called psychic who not only predicted this virus but said it will reappear in 10 years and cause total devastation. Me personally I don't believe she was psychic but had prior knowledge and that's whats scary as it would make this a planned release. Which would make sense why British scientists are calling for full infection to trigger a herd immunity which sounds to me like Eugenics. Any thoughts??

 

[LCarlson]

Viruses are known for "crossover," where a virus can mutate and incorporate genetic material from other viruses. This is how many flu/cold viruses arise, through crossover with those carried in animal populations, most notably documented cases involving poultry, bats and swine, although many other species have been implicated depending on the virus.

As for psychics, file that under the heading of people predicting a great many things for a great many millennia. Eventually some of them will be right. It is not science.

Scientists have been predicting a massive, lethal pandemic since we first began to understand how the terrible flu of 1918-19 proceeded, but it took a hundred years for this to come to pass on the scale of Covid-19. SARS and MERS were terrible manifestations with serious damaging potential, but were successfully contained, relatively early.
We are certainly better prepared, in terms of medical science, governmental support, infrasctructure, general health and knowledge, this time around for a global pandemic.

Take heart, we're all in this together, and we'll get through it.
~LC