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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

The mammals that most freely share dangerous microbes with humans

Scientists identify two primate species as hosts of a high number of pathogens that can jump to Homo sapiens.
Rhesus macaque, China.

A model projects that the rhesus macaque, which lives across Asia, harbours a large array of microbes that could infect people. Credit: Magnus Lundgren/Wild Wonders of China/NPL

The mammals that are most likely to pass diseases to humans are those that easily share their bacteria and viruses across species boundaries.

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Nature 578, 195 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-00313-z

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