Identification of 2019-nCoV related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins in southern China

TTY Lam, MHH Shum, HC Zhu, YG Tong, XB Ni… - BioRxiv, 2020 - biorxiv.org
TTY Lam, MHH Shum, HC Zhu, YG Tong, XB Ni, YS Liao, W Wei, WYM Cheung, WJ Li, LF Li…
BioRxiv, 2020biorxiv.org
The ongoing outbreak of viral pneumonia in China and beyond is associated with a novel
coronavirus, provisionally termed 2019-nCoV. This outbreak has been tentatively associated
with a seafood market in Wuhan, China, where the sale of wild animals may be the source of
zoonotic infection. Although bats are likely reservoir hosts for 2019-nCoV, the identity of any
intermediate host facilitating transfer to humans is unknown. Here, we report the
identification of 2019-nCoV related coronaviruses in pangolins (Manis javanica) seized in …
Abstract
The ongoing outbreak of viral pneumonia in China and beyond is associated with a novel coronavirus, provisionally termed 2019-nCoV. This outbreak has been tentatively associated with a seafood market in Wuhan, China, where the sale of wild animals may be the source of zoonotic infection. Although bats are likely reservoir hosts for 2019-nCoV, the identity of any intermediate host facilitating transfer to humans is unknown. Here, we report the identification of 2019-nCoV related coronaviruses in pangolins (Manis javanica) seized in anti-smuggling operations in southern China. Metagenomic sequencing identified pangolin associated CoVs that belong to two sub-lineages of 2019-nCoV related coronaviruses, including one very closely related to 2019-nCoV in the receptor-binding domain. The discovery of multiple lineages of pangolin coronavirus and their similarity to 2019-nCoV suggests that pangolins should be considered as possible intermediate hosts for this novel human virus and should be removed from wet markets to prevent zoonotic transmission.
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