They performed an analysis of 1,725 game animals, representing 16 species and five mammalian orders, sampled across China.

“From this we identified 71 mammalian viruses, with 45 described for the first time. Eighteen viruses were considered as potentially high risk to humans and domestic animals,” said corresponding author Shuo Su from the College of Veterinary Medicine at Nanjing Agricultural University in China.

Notably, the team did not identify any SARS-CoV-2-like or SARS-CoV-like sequences, including the Malayan pangolins from which SARS-CoV-2-like viruses have previously been identified, Su said in the study posted on preprint server biorxiv, meaning not yet peer-reviewed.

According to researchers, one reason for the lack of pangolin SARS-like viruses could be that previous virus-positive samples were all confiscated by the custom authorities in Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, both of which were characterised by an intensive network of animal smuggling.

In contrast, the new samples were obtained from Zhejiang province in eastern China which does not have an international border that would facilitate smuggling, they said.

They also identified the transmission of bat coronavirus HKU8 from a bat to a civet, as well as cross-species jumps of coronavirus from bats to hedgehogs and from birds to porcupines.

Similarly avian influenza virus H9N2 was also identified in civets and Asian badgers, with the latter displaying respiratory symptoms, as well as cases of likely human-to-wildlife virus transmission.

“These data highlight the importance of game animals as potential drivers of disease emergence,” the researchers said.

Source: IANS