So Yummy, I could eat it up!

The list of emergent
viruses continues to grow. In the early 1990s, there was HIV, ebola, lassa, and others, almost all having jumped from their
natural host species to humans. More recently, hepatitis C, Sin Nombre, West
Nile, and of course SARS emerged. The common factor, said Dr Eddie Holmes of the
University of Oxford, is that they use RNA rather than DNA to carry their
genetic code.

...

Killer strains of influenza type A are thought to begin in the
intestines of waterfowl, such as ducks. The intestine harbours the viral
components that, under the right conditions, allow the virus to jump to another
species, such as a chicken, and then to people.

...

Respiratory droplets were likely to be a primary source of
transmission