The findings strongly suggest that at some point in the past, a similar virus jumped from animals to humans, giving rise to today’s rubella virus, the researchers say. Although neither of the new viruses is known to infect humans, the fact that a related virus jumped species raises concerns that the two viruses or other, as-yet-unknown relatives could cause human outbreaks. “We would be remiss not to be concerned, given what’s going on in the world today,” says epidemiologist Tony Goldberg of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, a senior author of the study.
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