SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Zoonotic Origin and Susceptibility of Domestic and Wild Animals

SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19): Zoonotic Origin and Susceptibility of Domestic and Wild Animals

B. R. Singh, Ramkumar, Kuldeep Dhama, Yashpal S. Malik, Tripti Pande, D K Sinha, Vinodh Kumar O.R., B.S. Pruthvishree

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are responsible for causing economically significant diseases both in animals andhumans. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing CoronavirusDiseases (COVID-19), outbreak has become the first pandemic of the 21st century and is the deadliestpandemic after the 1918 Spanish Flu. Except, the two previous epidemics, SARS-CoV (2002 epidemic,China) and MERS-CoV (2012 epidemic, Middle Eastern region), CoVs are known the world over as themild pathogens of humans and animals. Despite several measures to control the COVID-19 pandemic,it has affected more than 210 countries and regional territories distressing more than 5.3 millionpeople and claiming nearly 0.34 million lives globally. Several findings point towards the appearanceof the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the humans through animals, especially the wild animals of the Chineselive seafood wet market. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is another example of diseases originatingfrom the human-animal interface and spreading through international borders causing global healthemergencies. Most of the countries around the globe are stumbling due to the COVID-19 pandemicwith severe threats and panic among the mass population. World Health Organization (WHO),international and national health authorities are working with excessive efforts for effective andimpactful interventions to contain the virus. It is significant to comprehend the inclination of theseviruses to jump between different species, and the establishment of infection in the entirely new host,identification of significant reservoirs of coronaviruses. Several animal species such as cats, dogs, tiger,and minks have been confirmed to get SARS-CoV-2 infections from COVID-19 infected person. Laboratoryinvestigations point out those cats are the most susceptible species for SARS-CoV-2, and it can evidencewith clinical disease. The studies carried out on animal's susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 further supportthe human-to-animal spread of the virus. In this review, we focus on addressing COVID-19 infectionsin domestic and wild animals.

2020

cat, domestic animals, wild animals, Tiger, SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19

DOI: 10.22207/JPAM.14.SPL1.11

Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology

Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology

Microbiology