Dr. Neil D’Cruze, Global Director of Wildlife Research at World Animal Protection explained in a statement the reasons that explain why pangolin is the “intermediate host” who transmitted the virus: the illegal marketing of its meat and scales for traditional medicine in markets, ”
no biosecurity measures established“.
“It is not surprising to hear that pangolins are implicated in the ongoing deadly coronavirus outbreak, as millions of them are stolen from nature in Asia and Africa and marketed worldwide,” said D’Cruze.
According to the World Animal Protection organization, the ways in which pangolins are extracted from their natural habitat and slaughtered were documented without the corresponding biosecurity measures to mitigate the possibility of
spread of some disease. In any case, illegal practices persisted, and the coronavirus has already spread in 26 countries, with 636 dead and more than 30,882 infected.
“They are raised for
meat, and its
scales They are used in traditional medicine, although herbal alternatives are available. The wildlife trade like this is responsible for the terrible suffering of animals and puts people’s health at risk, as we can see now, “said the director of that organization.
Although they are already
protected by international law since 2016, consumer demand continues as does the illegal marketing of this animal.
“The only solution is a permanent ban on wildlife trade, in China and around the world,” D’Cruze concluded in his statement.
The investigation that identified the pangolin as part of the virus transmitting link
Researchers at the University of Agriculture in southern China, according to AFP and Reuters news agencies, identified the pangolin as a possible
“intermediate host” which facilitated the transmission of the virus, the university said in a statement, without giving further details.
An animal that harbors the virus
without being sick Y
can transmit it other species is called
reservoir. In the case of the new coronavirus, it is probably the bat. According to a recent study, the genomes of this virus and those circulating in this animal are
96% identical.
The pangolin, the exotic animal that could be key in the transmission of the coronavirus – Source: Youtube
04:02
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But the bat virus cannot be fixed in human receptors and must undoubtedly go through another species to adapt to man, what is called the “intermediate host.”
Having studied 1000 samples of wild animals, the scientists determined that the genomes of the
virus sequences studied
in the pangolin they were 99% identical to those of patients infected with the Wuhan coronavirus.
FURTHER
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