A Virus That May Have Jumped from Dogs to Humans

...centuries ago though..so don't worry! I found this news story today and thought it was interesting (science nerd that I am!).

Researchers Find Cousin of Hepatitis C Virus in Dogs

Might lead to better understanding and treatment of human version of the disease

MONDAY, May 23 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers report that they've discovered a virus similar to the human hepatitis C virus in dogs, a finding that might provide insight into how the germ evolved in people and perhaps lead to better treatments.

About 200 million people around the world are thought to suffer from hepatitis C, including an estimated 3.2 million chronically infected people in the United States. Many don't know they're infected with the liver-damaging virus that causes the disease, which means they can spread it to others without realizing it.

The new findings suggest that hepatitis C may have "jumped" from dogs to humans more than five centuries ago, the researchers said.

The rest of the article is here:

http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=653157