Phys.org September 4, 2024
An international team of researchers (China, Belgium, Sweden, Australia, USA – UCLA) performed single-sample metatranscriptomic sequencing of internal tissues from 461 individual fur animals that were found dead due to disease. They characterized 125 virus species, including 36 that were novel and 39 at potentially high risk of cross-species transmission, including zoonotic spillover. They identified seven species of coronaviruses, and documented the cross-species transmission of a novel canine respiratory coronavirus to raccoon dogs and bat coronaviruses to mink, present at a high abundance in lung tissues. Three subtypes of influenza A virus—H1N2, H5N6 and H6N2—were detected in the lungs of guinea pig, mink and muskrat. Multiple known zoonotic viruses were detected in guinea pigs. These data also reveal potential virus transmission between farm animals and wild animals, and from humans to farm animals, indicating that fur farming represents an important transmission hub for viral zoonoses… read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE
Geographical distribution of animal sampling, fur animal composition, tissue type… Credit: Nature, 04 September 2024Â