Could relatives of measles virus jump from animals to us?
As CDV has spread around the world, there are many examples of it hopping into other species including seals, cats and even monkeys - often with devastating effects.
But, as vaccination rates fall, we will continue to see major outbreaks of measles, and this will give other morbilliviruses, like CDV, the chance to explore a new human host. Often a virus must mutate for successful cross-species transmission. And whilst declining vaccination rates might not provide enough scope for a non-human morbillivirus to adapt and outcompete measles, there is one scenario where emergence might just be possible - The World Health Organization'sInside the lab where they study the world's most deadly diseases
"A lot of things would have to fall into place. Removing measles immunity from the human population, an animal population that is shedding CDV and then the two coming together. PPRV - or Peste des Petits Ruminants virus to give it its full name - circulates widely in relatively small animals such as sheep and goats.Rinderpest devastated cattle in Africa during the 1890s. Millions of people died from starvation.
Of course, we can't predict which, or even if, a virus would emerge. But reported infections in monkeys makes CDV a prime candidate."Although measles infection can have devastating complications, this is rarer compared to CDV and some of the other morbilliviruses which normally produce severe disease in their natural hosts," said Prof Cosby.
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