- The new coronavirus that causes COVID-19 is a product of different coronaviruses that recombine in animal species.
- A new study suggests that hundreds of animal species may harbor various types of coronavirus, meaning that recombination events may be more likely than previously thought.
- The authors noted that their results may help to improve surveillance programs to mitigate the risks associated with a future new coronavirus.
A new study highlights hundreds of mammalian species that can contract multiple coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and therefore become sources of new coronaviruses. Published in Nature Communications, the research suggests that new coronaviruses may arise from many more animal species than scientists have observed so far.
Coronaviruses comprise a large family of viruses. Humans are known to contract only seven coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, all of which can cause serious illness or death. But coronaviruses can circulate more widely in the animal kingdom, and within it scientists have identified hundreds of unique strains.
Some animals can be infected with several coronaviruses at the same time. When this occurs, the genes of the different viruses can combine and replicate, creating a new coronavirus. This natural process is called recombination and is what produced SARS-CoV-2, the new coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
So, in what animal species could the next new coronavirus originate through recombination?
Wardeh et al.
The predicted hosts are grouped in order (inner circle). The middle circle shows the probability of association between the host and SARS-CoV-2 (the gray scale indicates predicted associations with probability in the range> 0.5 to ≤ 0.75. The red scale indicates predicted associations with probability in the interval > 0.75 a <0.9821. Blue to purple scale present indicates associations with probability ≥ 0.9821). Yellow bars represent number of coronaviruses (species or strains) observed to be found in each host. Blue stacked bars represent other coronaviruses predicted to be found in each host by our model. Predicted coronaviruses per host are grouped by prediction probability into three categories (from inside to outside): ≥0.9821, >0.75 a <0.9821 and >0.5 to ≤0.75.
To answer that, the researchers behind the recent study created a computer model to predict which species are most at risk of being “reservoirs” for coronavirus. Using data from GenBank, a database from the National Institutes of Health, the team compared 411 coronaviruses to 876 species of mammals that are known to contract coronaviruses.
The model predicted that each species of coronavirus can infect, on average, more than 12 types of mammalian hosts. Meanwhile, the results suggested that each mammalian host could contract about five different types of coronavirus.
In terms of recombination, some species of mammals pose enormous threats. The study found that domestic pigs are at high risk because they are known to harbor many different coronaviruses.
“Given the large number of predicted viral associations presented here, the pig’s close association with humans, its well-known reservoir status for many other zoonotic viruses and its involvement in the genetic recombination of some of these viruses, the pig is expected to be a of the first candidates, an important host of recombination “, wrote the authors.
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The study also identified species in which SARS-CoV-2 can combine with other coronaviruses. Among them were the Asian yellow bat, the common hedgehog, the European rabbit, chimpanzees, the African green monkey and domestic cats (which are already known to contract SARS-CoV-2, although there is no evidence that cats or other animals pets can spread the new coronavirus to humans).
Also on that list was the dromedary camel, a “known host of multiple coronaviruses and the main route of transmission of MERS-CoV to humans”. It would be especially worrying if MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are recombined, considering that the former is highly deadly and the latter is highly contagious.
Enhanced surveillance programs
Still, many factors must be aligned for coronaviruses to merge and generate a new coronavirus, and just because an animal is vulnerable to several viruses does not mean that these viruses will recombine. But the team responsible for the study noted that scientists are probably underestimating the number of animals that could generate new coronaviruses, and that the results may help inform surveillance programs for species at risk.
“This information can help inform prevention and mitigation strategies and provide a vital early warning system for new future coronaviruses,” wrote the authors.
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