What is a Spillover Event?

What is a Spillover Event?

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By Sara Ryding, B.Sc.Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.

Viruses can occasionally, but quite rarely, move from one species to another. This is called a spillover event but can also be known as a spillover infection or a pathogen spillover. A spillover event is what led the causative virus of COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, to transmit from bats to humans.