Hi Reddit, My name is Raina Plowright and I am an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology at Montana State University. I use field, lab and modeling approaches to understand how pathogens persist in wildlife populations (especially bats) and spill over to humans. And my name is Olivier Restif and I’m a Lecturer in Epidemiology at the University of Cambridge. I use mathematical models to track the spread of microbes within their hosts and across populations. In particular, I’m trying to find out how the ecology of African bats may contribute to their ability to spread viruses. We recently published a paper titled “Transmission or within-host processes driving pulses of infection in reservoir hosts” in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. We examine the dynamics of emerging bat infections within their reservoir host populations. We argue that understanding the mechanisms that drive pulses of excretion of viruses such as Hendra, Nipah, Ebola and Marburg viruses, is essential to predict or manage spillover risk. We outline an ambitious multidisciplinary research agenda that would allow better management or even prevention of spillover. We will be answering your questions at 1pm ET (10 am PT) – Ask Us Anything! You can follow Raina on Twitter at @rainamontana and Olivier on @BugsWormsNBats.