Hello and welcome to the Osterhome Update, COVID-19, a new weekly podcast on the global

COVID-19 pandemic with Dr. Michael Osterhome, director of the Center for Infectious Disease

Research and Policy, or CIDRAP, at the University of Minnesota.

Dr. Osterhome has been internationally recognized medical detective with more than 45 years

of experience investigating and researching infectious disease outbreaks.

And since 2005, he has been warning of the potential for a global pandemic and emphasizing

the critical need for pandemic preparedness.

His 2017 book Deadliest Enemy, warned of a scenario very similar to what we are experiencing

now with this novel coronavirus.

Each episode of the podcast, Dr. Osterhome will be discussing the latest COVID-19 news,

data, guidance, and perspective.

I'm Chris Doll, reporter for CIDRAP News, and I'll be your host for these conversations.

Mike, it's been nearly three months since the first COVID-19 cases were reported in China.

And now the epicenter of the outbreak has moved from China to Europe and the United States.

Can you explain how we got here and give us an update on the current status of the pandemic?

Well, first of all, thank you, Chris.

It's good to be with you.

In short, to explain how we got here is that we had the emergence of a coronavirus infection

in Wuhan, China that obviously jumped from an animal species to a human.

And in just a few short months, acted very much like an influenza virus would do with the

emergence of a new pandemic strain.

This particular virus is now spread around the world.

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