Int. J. One Health Vol.7 Article-4
Review Article
International Journal of One Health, 7(2): 171-181
https://doi.org/10.14202/IJOH.2021.171-181
Coronavirus disease 2019 and its potential animal reservoirs: A review
2. Department of Microbiology and Veterinary Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chattogram, Bangladesh.
3. One Health Institute, Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chattogram, Bangladesh.
4. Department of Physiology, Biochemistry and Pharmacology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Chattogram, Bangladesh.
Background and Aim: In the 21st century, the world has been plagued by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), a virus of the family Coronaviridae epidemiologically suspected to be linked to a wet market in Wuhan, China. The involvement of wildlife and wet markets with the previous outbreaks simultaneously has been brought into sharp focus. Although scientists are yet to ascertain the host range and zoonotic potential of SARS-CoV-2 rigorously, information about its two ancestors, SARS-CoV and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), is a footprint for research on COVID-19. A 96% genetic similarity with bat coronaviruses and SARS-CoV-2 indicates that the bat might be a potential reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 just like SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, where civets and dromedary camels are considered the potential intermediate host, respectively. Perceiving the genetic similarity between pangolin coronavirus and SARS-CoV-2, many scientists also have given the scheme that the pangolin might be the intermediate host. The involvement of SARS-CoV-2 with other animals, such as mink, snake, and turtle has also been highlighted in different research articles based on the interaction between the key amino acids of S protein in the receptor-binding domain and angiotensin-converting enzyme II (ACE2). This study highlights the potential animal reservoirs of SARS-CoV-2 and the role of wildlife in the COVID-19 pandemic. Although different causes, such as recurring viral genome recombination, wide genetic assortment, and irksome food habits, have been blamed for this emergence, basic research studies and literature reviews indicate an enormous consortium between humans and animals for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Keywords: ACE2 receptor, COVID-19, Intermediate host, SARS-CoV-2, wildlife.
Received: 17-12-2020 Accepted: 15-06-2021 Published online: 25-08-2021
Corresponding author: Jahan Ara E-mail: jahan78621@yahoo.com
DOI: 10.14202/IJOH.2021.171-181
Copyright: Islam, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.