Researchers are looking into how an immune system gone haywire may be doing the most damage in patients experiencing some of the most severe symptoms and even death because of COVID-19. This might be happening in two stages, first the immune system fails to respond quickly enough to the virus, then responds too aggressively and causes more damage. Joe Walker, reporter for the WSJ, joins us for why a hyperactive immune response may make things worse.




Next, last week we heard about Nadia, a tiger in the Bronx zoo that had contracted COVID-19. The tiger and a few other big cats had come down with dry coughs, so the decision was made to test, and the test was one made specifically for the animals. It’s important to understand how the transmission works… can it spread to other animals or even pets? Kate Knibbs, writer at Wired, joins us for more.




Finally, as we track and map out the spread of the coronavirus, we are learning that most of the cases in New York actually came from Europe and not China. Early travel restrictions from those coming from China were put in place, but the virus had already spread making it much more difficult to contain. Carl Zimmer, Columnist at the NY Times, joins us for how coronavirus came to New York.

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