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Which animal is most likely to harbor the next deadly coronavirus?
With the Covid-19 pandemic fueling a sense of urgency, researchers are finding new ways to predict the answer to that question.
“We are thinking about the next one,” says Maya Wardeh of the University of Liverpool, one of the authors of an article in the journal Nature Communications that found that there are many more mammals that can be infected with multiple coronaviruses than previously known.
Several countries around the world participate in or fund programs to test wild animals that have been linked to previous outbreaks or are considered high risk, such as bats and rodents. Samples are collected and sequenced to identify new viruses, including those that have the potential to infect humans. Efforts are also underway, including one at Ohio State University, to test domestic, wild, zoo and livestock animals to see if they can contract SARS-CoV-2, the pathogen that causes Covid-19 infections.
The Covid-19 pandemic has sparked additional strategies to better quantify risks, make more accurate predictions, and then identify which animals require closer surveillance.
