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@CDC: We have received thousands of messages asking us to explain how viruses like Hydra-1 mutate. When humans reproduce, we share genetic material vertically from parents to children. Microbes share genetic material horizontally. They exchanged genes laterally when they bump against other viruses. These exchanges or mutations happen in microbe-rich, fecally contaminated environments. The Hydra-1 virus developed in a wet market in China where horseshoe bats and civet cats defecated in the shared space. Their fecal matter merged, and the microbes of different viruses were able to mutate using each other’s genetic material. The WHO has cleared the area and quarantined all individuals connected in any way to the market.
—Centers for Disease Control Twitter Feed
November 24, 2019
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