Researchers in Hong Kong and China claim to have found viruses in the scaly mammals, which are closely related to the one responsible for the Covid-19 outbreak
An insightful documentary shown on RTÉ Two on Sunday night highlighted the plight of the pangolin, a shy, scaly animal found in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, which has the unfortunate title of the world's most trafficked mammal.
Pangolin meat is considered a delicacy in parts of Africa, China and Vietnam and their scales are used as a traditional medicine in Asia. To add to the animal’s woes, it’s now being blamed as a possible source of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, bats are reservoirs for hundreds of coronaviruses. Part of the reason for this is that, as the only flying mammals, bats have developed a rare ability to fight viruses, and consequently live with various types of diseases. Analyses of the genetic code of the novel coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, backed up the theory that the virus originated in bats.
The team analysed samples taken from more than 30 Malayan pangolins seized during anti-smuggling operations between August 2017 and January 2019. It added further surveillance is needed to understand the role of the animals in the emergence of coronaviruses. Outside of bats, pangolins are the only mammals reported to date that have been found to be infected with a coronavirus related to Sars-Cov-2.
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