Scientists have warned that a worrying new bat coronavirus is among 36 new viruses found in animals including raccoon dogs, mink and guinea pigs at Chinese fur farms. The results, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, show cases of the new coronavirus have been found at small-scale fur farms. Professor Eddie Holmes, an evolutionary biologist and virologist at the University of Sydney, said: “Fur farms represent a richer zoonotic soup than we thought.”"text-align: justify;">According to a report from China
He co-authored the report with colleagues in China. The researchers looked not only at commonly farmed and studied animals (such as mink, muskrats, foxes and raccoon dogs), but also at species including guinea pigs and deer that have contracted the disease.
These dangerous viruses were found in the fur of animals
They are common on small backyard farms across China and have rarely been the subject of disease surveillance efforts. “Studies show that these species are also loaded with viruses,” Dr. Holmes said. “And some of these viruses are jumping species boundaries, which is a real concern. I think this fur trade is a gamble. We are exposing ourselves to viruses coming from wildlife, which could be the start of the next pandemic.”"text-align: justify;">The team of researchers tested 461 animals from fur farms, most of which were in northeastern China. All of them died after suffering from the disease. Scientists identified 125 different virus species, including 36 new pathogens.
39 of the viruses detected had high spillover potential as they were found in a diversity of animal species "generalist" were.
The team also detected seven coronaviruses whose original hosts were rodents, rabbits and dogs. Although none of these were closely related to Sars-Cov-2, a worrying new bat coronavirus was discovered. Called HKU5, it was found in the lungs and intestines of mink that had died from a pneumonia outbreak on a fur farm.
HKU5 ‘is a red flag’
The question is always whether we can figure out which type of virus we should worry about the most, whether these viruses can also enter humans. According to health experts, this virus can also spread to humans. HKU5 needs to be put on the watch list immediately. This is definitely a danger signal. He has stressed more stringent monitoring of fur farms in China and around the world. Professor Linfa Wang, director of the Emerging Infectious Diseases Research Program at Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore, who was not involved in the study.
Scientists have long worried that mink farms could provide fertile ground for viruses to mutate, as the animals are susceptible to many of the same viruses as humans. In the autumn of 2020, Denmark culled its entire population of farmed mink – around five million animals – after Covid-19 mutated from humans into mink and then reinfected humans with a new strain.
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