Research finds that Chinese wildlife is pandemic and -waiting for it to happen

November 14, 2021:

Wildlife species sold in the Chinese fresh market were associated with the emergence of SARS and Covid-19. A comprehensive study of viral pathogens now reveals that viral pathogens harbor a variety of diseases that threaten humans and other animals.

71 mammal species, including 18 species considered “potentially high risk” for humans and livestock, in a study of more than 12 species of hunting animals traded, sold and commonly consumed as exotic foods in China A virus has been identified. Cat-like carnivores involved in the spread of the severe acute respiratory virus in the southern Chinese market carried the most anxious microbes, according to a study released Friday.

Authors in China, the United States, Belgium, and Australia found no resemblance to SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes the Covid-19 pandemic, but strains carried by bats break the species barrier. Animals in spillover events at risk of sowing dangerous outbreaks that have been shown to be transmitted beyond and infect others. They also found that hunting animals were infected with a virus that was previously thought to exist only in humans.

“This study highlights exactly why the wildlife trade and the live animal market are pandemic accidents waiting to happen,” said Edward Holmes, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Sydney. Said in an email. “This paper also shows that humans regularly infect other animals with the virus. Obviously there is bidirectional virus traffic.”

Future threat

Supported by major national R & D programs such as China, this study demonstrates its commitment to look for future pandemic threats. The 40-page manuscript was released on bioRxiv, an open access preprint repository, prior to peer review and publication.

A comprehensive study of the diversity and abundance of vertebrate-related viruses in Chinese hunting animals is the first to assess which species are most likely to carry the virus that can cause the outbreak.

Scientists have not yet identified the origin of SARS-CoV-2. The debate about its origin has been united around two competing ideas: lab escape or spillover from animals. Studies identifying closely related coronaviruses, including bats inhabiting limestone caves in northern Laos and Cambodia, show that live animals, especially susceptible to infection, are sold in the Wuhan market, a city in central China. Supports the latter hypothesis because is known. The earliest Covid-19 cases were detected.

Exotic pets

Wildlife species captured in natural habitats or raised on farms are legally and illegally traded around the world to meet the demand for food, fur, traditional medicine, exotic pets and zoo exhibits. I am. The Chinese market in 2016 was worth an estimated 520 billion yuan ($ 82 billion).

After the advent of Covid-19, China banned trade and the government subsequently banned human consumption of terrestrial wildlife. This move was in early 2020, with poor hygiene, close contact between animals and humans, and a wide mix of live animal markets and the species in the restaurants they offer, ideal breeding of emerging infectious diseases. I realized that it would create the earth.

Shuo Su and colleagues, a professor of veterinary medicine at Nanjing Agricultural University, investigated 1,725 ​​hunting animals of 16 species commonly consumed for hunting or feeding in 19 states in China. Of the dozens of mammalian viruses identified in the last five years, 45 have never been reported.

“Except for the pangolins, their close contact with humans and livestock provides little research on hunting animals, even though they provide links to other wildlife species.” The author states.

bird-flu

Many of the species investigated were listed on the price list of the South China Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, the epicenter of the first Covid outbreak. In a notable virus discovery, scientists first confirmed the presence of hepatitis E virus and influenza H9N2 strains in badgers and jacoons.

The particular bird flu virus is currently the most prevalent strain in chickens and ducks, causing numerous infections in Chinese people, the authors said. The infected civet looked healthy, but they caused obvious respiratory symptoms in Asian badgers, they said.

Scientists have also discovered moderate to numerous pathogens that are thought to be human-specific to pangolins, civets, and bamboo rats. They included norovirus, the cause of the infamous vomiting and diarrhea on cruise ships, and influenza B.

In addition, the authors identified cross-species transmission of several animal viruses, including bat-related coronaviruses in civet, bird-related coronaviruses in porcupine, and pig-related porcine-related porcine viruses in the order Pangolins. According to Holmes of the University of Sydney, it is especially troublesome for the coronavirus of bats to infect civets.

“More species of jumps from civets to humans can easily initiate outbreaks,” he said, and a similar pattern of cross-species transmission could have triggered the emergence of SARS-CoV-2. Added that is very high.

“Animals sold as hunting animals in the live animal market carry a variety of viral pathogens,” said Holmes, who won the Australian Prime Minister’s Science Award this month. “If the right animal is infected with the right virus at the right time, it can easily cause a pandemic.” ET HealthWorld