Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases present great risks to public health. The novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), causing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has become an urgent public health issue of global concern. It is speculated that the virus first emerged through a zoonotic spillover. Basic research studies have suggested that bats are likely the ancestral reservoir host. Nonetheless, the evolutionary history and host susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 remains unclear as a multitude of animals has been proposed as potential intermediate or dead-end hosts. SARS-CoV-2 has been isolated from domestic animals, both companion and livestock, as well as in captive wildlife that were in close contact with human COVID-19 cases. Currently, domestic mink is the only known animal that is susceptible to a natural infection, develop severe illness, and can also transmit SARS-CoV-2 to other minks and humans. To improve foundational knowledge of SARS-CoV-2, we are conducting a synthesis review of its host diversity and transmission pathways. To mitigate this COVID-19 pandemic, we strongly advocate for a systems-oriented scientific approach that comprehensively evaluates the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 at the human and animal interface.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 180 |
Pages (from-to) | 1-28 |
Number of pages | 28 |
Journal | Pathogens |
Volume | 10 |
Issue number | 2 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Feb 2021 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding: C.V. was supported by a start-up fund of the Department of Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Keywords
- Animals
- Coronavirus
- COVID-19
- Host diversity
- Humans
- One Health
- SARS-CoV-2
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Immunology and Allergy
- Molecular Biology
- General Immunology and Microbiology
- Microbiology (medical)
- Infectious Diseases