Cell heavyweight: Su Shuo/Shi Mang team revealed that "game" animals carry a variety of viruses closely related to human diseases

On February 16 , 2022 , the team of Professor Shuo Su of Nanjing Agricultural University and the team of Professor Shi Mang of Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine jointly published a paper entitled "Virome characterization of game animals in China reveals a spectrum of emerging pathogens" in Cell magazine.

On February 16 , 2022 , the team of Professor Shuo Su of Nanjing Agricultural University and the team of Professor Shi Mang of Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine jointly published a paper entitled "Virome characterization of game animals in China reveals a spectrum of emerging pathogens" in Cell magazine.

 

The COVID-19 ( Corona Virus Disease 2019 , COVID-19 ) pandemic has brought the global trade in wild animals (i.

The COVID-19 COVID-19 ( Corona Virus Disease 2019 ) pandemic has brought the global trade in wildlife, or " game " animals, into widespread public concern .

In this study, a high-throughput metatranscriptomic approach was used to conduct a large-scale systematic virome survey of 1941 " game " animals from 20 provinces in China .

Figure 1 The species and geographical distribution of " game " animals involved in this study 

Figure 1 The species and geographical distribution of " game " animals involved in this study 

Based on this approach, this study identified a total of 102 mammalian viruses, including 65 novel viruses that had never been reported before, covering 13 viral families

Based on this approach, this study identified a total of 102 mammalian viruses, including 65 novel viruses that had never been reported before, covering 13 viral families

In addition, this study also found that some viruses can be transmitted between different classes of wild and " game " animals, such as the identification of a bat-derived alphacoronavirus BtCoV -HKU8 in civet samples with diarrhea , suggesting that the virus Having overcome the host barrier and completed the process of cross-species transmission from the natural host (bat) to the intermediate host (civet cat), the next stage is likely to become a new human pathogen through further mutation and recombination .

Figure 2 Diversity of viromes carried by " game " animals 

Figure 2 Diversity of viromes carried by " game " animals 

Among the 102 vertebrate-related viruses identified, 21 of them were identified as " high-risk " viruses, and these pathogens were either known zoonotic pathogens or exhibited high cross-species transmission ability and were new The key goal of prevention of re-emerging infectious diseases

Among the 102 vertebrate-related viruses identified, 21 of them were identified as " high-risk " viruses, and these pathogens were either known zoonotic pathogens or exhibited high cross-species transmission ability and were new The key goal of prevention of re-emerging infectious diseases

Figure 3 Relationship between " high-risk " viruses and " high-risk " " game " animals

Figure 3 Relationship between " high-risk " viruses and " high-risk " " game " animals

Finally, some seemingly healthy animals also carry viruses closely related to human disease, and these viruses continue to spread between different species

Finally, some seemingly healthy animals also carry viruses closely related to human disease, and these viruses continue to spread between different species

This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Excellent Youth Fund ( Natural Science Foundation of 31922081 ), the National Key Research and Development Program Project " The Epidemic Transmission Characteristics and Genetic Evolution of Livestock and Poultry Coronavirus ( 2021YFD1801101 ) " , the National Key Research and Development Program for New Crown, Shenzhen Talent projects and projects such as the introduction of innovative and entrepreneurial teams in Guangdong Province

Original source:

Virome characterization of game animals in China reveals a spectrum of emerging pathogens .