Nanjing Agricultural University published the first Cell, which systematically studied the viral transcriptome, and found for the first time that 65 viruses exist in mammals

On February 16, 2022, Cell published a research paper online: "Virome characterization of game animals in China reveals a research paper completed by Nanjing Agricultural University (the first unit) School of Veterinary Medicine/Frontier Intersection Research Institute in conjunction with Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine and other domestic and foreign institutions.
a spectrum of emerging pathogens”
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The co-corresponding authors of the paper are Professor Su Shuo of Nanjing Agricultural University (Lead contact), Professor Shi Mang of Sun Yat-sen University, and Professor Edward Holmes of the University of Sydney
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Doctoral student He Wanting, Sun Yat-sen University doctoral student Hou Xin, and master student Zhao Jin are the co-first authors of the paper
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This is the first time that Nanjing Agricultural University has published research results in CELL as the first corresponding author, and it is also a breakthrough research progress in the field of animal infectious disease prevention and control in China
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According to statistics, more than 70% of the pathogens of human infectious diseases come from animals
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Therefore, studying the virus carrying situation and diversity of wild animals that may be in close contact with humans or livestock is crucial to the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases in humans and livestock
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The paper conducted a systematic viral transcriptome study on samples of 1941 mammals from 18 species in 20 provinces in China, and found that 102 viruses in 13 virus families can infect mammals (Figure 1), of which 65 viruses For the first time found in mammals, such as: nutria rotavirus (Coypu rotavirus), pangolin pestivirus (Pangolin pestivirus), bamboo rat Sapporo virus (Bamboo rat sapovirus) and so on
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This study greatly expands the understanding of the diversity of viruses carried by a variety of wild animals, and provides an important scientific basis for the early warning and prevention of human and livestock diseases
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Figure 1: Vertebrate-related viruses carried in wild animals.
Porcupine deltacoronavirus (Deltacoronavirus HKU17), bovine parainfluenza virus 3 (Bovine parainfluenza virus 3), mammalian orthomumps virus 5 were reported in this study 21 viruses, including Mammalian orthorubulavirus 5 and H9N2 subtype influenza virus (Influenza A virus H9N2), have potential high risk of transmission to humans and livestock
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It was found that raccoon dogs, civet cats, bamboo rats, porcupines, hedgehogs and other wild animals can carry coronaviruses.
Among them, the four new canine coronaviruses (CCoV) carried in the diarrhea raccoon dog samples and the latest reports that can cause human diseases The gene homology of the recombinant CCoV strain CCoV-HuPn-2018 reached 93.
65%-94.
27%; based on the analysis of the non-recombinant region in the virus Spike protein (S), it was found that the four new raccoon dog CCoVs formed a single pedigree (Figure 2)
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Therefore, the risk of cross-species transmission of this coronavirus deserves attention
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This study also found a variety of high abundance of rotavirus (Rotavirus), including A, B, C, D and I groups
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Animals such as rabbits, raccoon dogs, porcupines and nutria all carry rotavirus group
A.

At the same time, co-infection of rotavirus groups A, C and I with high abundance was found in raccoon dogs with diarrhea, suggesting that rotavirus has cross-species transmission and public health risks
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Figure 2: Genomic recombination and evolutionary analysis of raccoon dog CCoV Although these wild animals are not necessarily the reservoir hosts for these high-risk viruses (Figure 3), they may act as intermediate hosts through cross-species transmission to spread the pathogen to humans and livestock
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The findings also show that some seemingly healthy animals can also carry viruses closely related to human disease and continue to spread between different species
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This once again highlights the risks of trade, consumption and close contact with game animals, and the importance of revealing wildlife as a potential driver of disease emergence
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At the same time, the research results can provide new ideas for the formulation of major epidemic prevention and control policies such as moving forward the prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases
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Figure 3: Association analysis between wild animals carrying potential zoonotic viruses and their hosts This project is supported by the project topic "Epidemic Transmission Characteristics and Genetic Evolution of Livestock and Poultry Coronavirus (2021YFD1801101)"
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Paper link: https://