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1. 2021-02-22 07:57 Robert F. Garry open
   But wasn't that zoo in San Diego?
2. 2021-02-22 08:45 Kristian G. Andersen open
   Yeah, San Diego... I was asked to be on that program too - but declined.
3. 2021-02-22 08:47 Kristian G. Andersen open
   Devi is :100: though, so I'm sure she didn't exactly intend to stir the pot of conspiracy... No doubt large-scale factoryfarming is risky from a natural emergence perspective though - but calling them "bioweapon factories" is just dumb.
4. 2021-02-22 08:48 Andrew Rambaut open
   You can't have a 'natural' bioweapon - by definition
5. 2021-02-22 08:51 Kristian G. Andersen
   Hah, good point.
6. 2021-02-22 08:51 Andrew Rambaut open
   Also I don't think that a human virus getting into mink is a particularly risky think other than potentially exposing more people or creating a reservoir. It isn't going to get more human adapted.
7. 2021-02-22 08:53 Kristian G. Andersen open
   I don't know - having a parallel epizootic with god knows what kind of selection pressures operating is to be avoidedat all cost. Mink farming is typically also associated with other farming - creating risks of further epizootics.
8. 2021-02-22 08:59 Andrew Rambaut open
   I agree about the zoonosis as a route from things like bats into humans especially as these mustelids seem such good models for humans. But I just can't get excited about animal transmission as a source of variants.
9. 2021-02-22 09:01 Andrew Rambaut open
   Would need to be some funky epistatic interactions to get somewhere that is not readily reachable in humans in the first place.

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