COVID-19: Omicron from mice.

This Video from Dr John Campbell is an interesting watch. There is now evidence that the Omicron variant evolved in mice. 

Now from the data it seems the original wild Wuhan strain infected Mice and then spent several months in  the Mouse community before infecting a human host in South Africa to become the Human Omicron variant.

    

The interesting but unsaid points are that Covid-19 seems predisposed to infect both humans and Mice. Now if for instance you wanted to test a new virus in the lab, it's now quite common to have genetically modified Mice with more human traits so you can better study the effect of the virus on a human host. But the mouse mostly remains a mouse and the virus will find exploits that more readily also infect the mouse host. Another little pointer to a lab leak methinks. But is that still a conspiracy theory these days?

The other salient point to take away is that generations of Mice must have given their lives for the evolution of this new Variant. Because the evolution of the Omicron variant has been very rapid. The short lifespan of the hosts has been of great benefit in speeding up the evolution of this new variant..

From the full-on deadly original Wuhan strain, we now have a variant that is not much more deadly than a cold or 'Flu infection.

Viruses naturally select to become less deadly, because killing the host also kills the virus. The most successful virus variants are those that evolve to keep the host mostly alive and at the same time more infectious so it can spread quicker and therefore replicate in greater numbers.

The way in which Omicron has dominated the Covid-19 landscape is nothing short of phenomenal and fortunate for humans. 

So, the next time you see a mouse in your house, be kind to them. Their species gave a great sacrifice to make Covid-19 nothing more than a bad cold or Influenza infection for most people.