When a virus jumps to humans from another species, it can seem like a supervillain bent on world domination – especially if it goes on to ignite a pandemic , as many zoonotic viruses have done in recent decades. And yet, despite the genuine danger zoonotic pathogens pose to human civilization, they're often just capitalizing on conditions we created, like our proximity to livestock , our degradation and invasion of wildlife habitats , and our trading of captive wildlife . In fact, according to