Coronavirus originated from bats, can infect cats, ferrets: WHO
A World Health Organization (WHO) scientist said Covid-19 originates from bats and will spread among cats amid an international debate about the virus's origin.
The novel coronavirus originates from several viruses that originate or spread in bats, and it's really still unclear what animal may have transmitted the condition to humans, Dr Peter Ben Embarek, a WHO expert in animal diseases that jump to humans, said on Friday in a briefing with reporters, reports Bloomberg.
The virus probably found its way to humans through connection with animals raised to supply food, though scientists have yet to determine which species, he said. Studies have proven that cats and ferrets are susceptible to Covid-19, and dogs to a smaller extent, he said, adding that it is important to discover which animals will get infected in order to avoid creating a "reservoir" in another species.
Questions about the foundation of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that has caused the pandemic, have burned hotter since US President Donald Trump suggested that it originated from a lab in China. Scientists who have studied the issue maintain that the virus originated in an animal, and probably entered the population in November.
WHO scientists are thinking about a fresh mission to China to obtain additional info on the virus's animal origin, Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, among the agency's top epidemiologists, said at a press briefing on Wednesday. Questions remain about whether the virus travelled directly from bats to people, or if other species were involved.
Pangolins, armored mammals that live in Asia, have been found to harbor versions of Sars-CoV-2 that act like those in people. The WHO wanted to conduct more animal investigations on a youthful mission to China, however the lockdown of the outbreak's epicenter in Wuhan made that impractical, Dr Ben Embarek has said.
The first human cases were detected around Wuhan, and almost all of those people had connection with the pet market, though not absolutely all, Dr Ben Embarek said.
Trump has doubled down on claims that the Chinese mistakenly released the virus from the laboratory as the outbreak in america has grown to be the world's most significant and deadliest. Chinese officials have said that the US has no evidence to back up those claims and called the allegations a blame game.
