Dogs can be infected by a hepatitis C-like hepacivirus, a newly discovered virus that is expected to yield insights into the workings of the hepatitis C virus (HCV), according to Amit Kapoor of the Columbia University Center for Infection and Immunity (CII) in New York City. “HCV research has been hampered by the belief that hepacivirus replication was restricted to humans and chimpanzees, but our results indicate that these viruses have a far wider host range and may very well have been introduced into the human population by domesticated dogs or other non-primate species,” he says. “These findings underscore the need to look beyond primates for clues to the origins of HCV.”