Basel, Switzerland – and – A new study provides compelling evidence that coronavirus is transmitted between humans and animals. Researchers studying 16 mink farms in the Netherlands say that the virus that causes stork-cov-2, COVID-19, is not only transmitted from humans to mink, but also.
Barely nine months into this epidemic, the exact origin of the scientific community SARS-CoV-2 is still unclear. Some say bats, others pangolins. What’s for sure, though, is the fact that many animals can actually contract the novel coronavirus. This has been proven among primitives, dogs, cats, bats, hamsters, rabbits, lions, tigers and more recently – monks.
What makes this study so unique? The authors claim that it is the first to show animal-to-human SARS-CoV-2 transmission.
‘Strong evidence’ of farm laborers signing COVID contracts from mints
The research was carried out by a group of Dutch veterinarians. For each of the 16 farms studied, the scientists performed a comprehensive analysis of each farm and the humans who worked or lived there. Researchers use complete genome sequencing for this process, helping to find sources of transmission.
In all 16 farms, a total of 720,000 animals were included in the study. Meanwhile, 97 humans were also examined. In that group, 66 humans (67%) showed evidence of having COVID infection.
“Because of the long-distance follow-up of the first far farms, we have evidence that at least two people on those farms were infected with the jokes. Unfortunately, based on our research we are not able to give any definite conclusions on the direction of most infections, so we do not know the total number of people infected by the monks, ”the study reads. “We conclude that the virus was originally introduced from humans and evolved on mink farms, most notably in the first SARS-K Co V-2 mink farm, with widespread circulation in mink several weeks before detection.”
‘The first proven zoonotic transmission of SARS-Cavi-2 in humans’
The genetic analysis of the SARS-Covy-2 samples taken from infected farm laborers was similar to the samples taken from the mint. However, other samples taken from “unrelated SARS-Co-2 patients living around the fields” were not identical. This strongly suggests that people who worked directly with the monks contracted the coronavirus of those animals.
“Each genetic sequence from an infected mink farm fell into one of five separate clusters, showing the transmission between different mink farms,” the researcher wrote.
“Additional research will be needed to determine the routes of transmission. We conclude that at least some of these employees are likely to have been directly infected by the infected mink and thus describe the first proven zoonotic transmission of SARS-COV-2 in humans. Close collaboration between the Department of Human and Animal Health is needed for early identification and control of SARS-Cavi-2 infection, ”the study concluded.
This research is to be presented at the ESCMID conference on coronavirus disease.
