ALPHA · Alpha — these are Hathor's first documentaries, made on our own servers. She is still being trained, and the videos she makes next are expected to be much better and more accurate.

← All documentaries

Viruses Between Species: Spillover and Spillback – The Rise and Fall

A ten‑minute journey from ancient accounts of animal‑borne disease to modern spillover and spillback events involving bats, birds, camels and mink.

Chapters

0:07 Origins in Antiquity
1:34 Modern Zoonoses Unveiled
3:19 Spillback and the Animal Farm
4:28 Future Lessons

On-screen text

0:07 Origins in Antiquity
0:14 Origins in Antiquity
0:31 Plague of Athens, 430 BC Historical record · Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 2
0:49 Ebers Papyrus mentions rabies‑like disease Historical record · Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BCE)
1:07 Celsus on hydrophobia Historical record · Aulus Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina, Book I
1:25 Pliny on bird flu Historical record · Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 8
1:34 Modern Zoonoses Unveiled
1:41 Modern Zoonoses Unveiled
1:58 SARS linked to civets and bats Historical record · WHO SARS Situation Report, 2003
2:16 MERS first identified, 2012 Historical record · WHO MERS Situation Report, 2012
2:34 1918 flu pandemic Historical record · U.S. Public Health Service Report, 1919
2:52 2022 H5N1 human cases Historical record · Zhou et al., Science, 2022
3:10 Ebola linked to fruit bats Historical record · WHO Ebola Situation Report, 2014
3:19 Spillback and the Animal Farm
3:26 Spillback and the Animal Farm
3:43 COVID‑19 spillback from mink Historical record · Danish State Serum Institute Report, 2020
4:01 Genomics confirm spillback The Institute's interpretation · Oude Munnink et al., Nature, 2021
4:19 Bat coronaviruses identified 2005 The Institute's interpretation · Li et al., Journal of Virology, 2005
4:28 Future Lessons
4:35 Guangdong, China, 2003 – SARS origin Historical record · WHO SARS Situation Report, 2003
4:58 13th‑century caravan routes, desert Historical record · Ibn al‑Baladhuri, Kitab al‑Tabaqat al‑Kubra, 13th c.
6:30 How will we prevent the next spillover?

Sources

Historical record: Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War, Book 2 · Ebers Papyrus (c. 1550 BCE) · Aulus Cornelius Celsus, De Medicina, Book I · Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book 8 · WHO SARS Situation Report, 2003 · WHO MERS Situation Report, 2012 · U.S. Public Health Service Report, 1919 · Zhou et al., Science, 2022 · WHO Ebola Situation Report, 2014 · Danish State Serum Institute Report, 2020 · Ibn al‑Baladhuri, Kitab al‑Tabaqat al‑Kubra, 13th c.

The Institute's interpretation: Oude Munnink et al., Nature, 2021 · Li et al., Journal of Virology, 2005

Sound: synthesized ambient (wind, drone, water) (CC0 — made by SoapBox). Made in 110 s of CPU.

Scenes Hathor has no parts for yet (11) — the next things to make

A crowded Athenian marketplace with citizens coughing and collapsing.
A crowded Athenian marketplace with citizens coughing and collapsing.
A Roman physician examining a patient terrified of water after a bite.
A Roman physician examining a patient terrified of water after a bite.
A Roman farmyard with chickens and a farmer coughing.
A Roman farmyard with chickens and a farmer coughing.
A West African village with hunters returning from the forest.
A West African village with hunters returning from the forest.
Laboratory bench filled with PCR machines, researchers in gloves examine glowing screens displaying branching phylogenetic trees of coronaviruses.
A former wet market under renovation; cages removed, bright signage reads “No wild mammals”, workers sweeping the floor.
Grand hall filled with flags, a banner overhead reads “One Health Summit”; delegates from many nations converse in quiet groups.