Samantha Nash

When COVID-19 took root across the United States in early 2020 the illness quickly overshadowed other public health priorities. The effects of this novel coronavirus were identified as grave and far-reaching, and the disease eclipsed a much more familiar threat to human health.

Charting the animal origins of human diseases like COVID-19 can be difficult and often leads to unexpected discoveries.

When a new and dangerous respiratory disease started racing around the globe in early 2020, it had been just over a century since humankind endured the 1918 influenza pandemic.

The gridiron is not the only venue where athletics-related concussions can occur — every sport includes some risk of fall or collision that can result in a blow to the head.