Coronavirus surveillance of wildlife in the Lao People’s Democratic Republic detects viral RNA in rodents

  1. David J. McIver
  2. Soubanh Silithammavong
  3. Watthana Theppangna
  4. Amethyst Gillis
  5. Bounlom Douangngeun
  6. Kongsy Khammavong
  7. Sinpakone Singhalath
  8. Veasna Duong
  9. Philippe Buchy
  10. Sarah H. Olson
  11. Lucy Keatts
  12. Amanda E. Fine
  13. Zoe Greatorex
  14. Martin Gilbert
  15. Matthew LeBreton
  16. Karen Saylors
  17. Damien O. Joly
  18. Edward M. Rubin
  19. Christian E. Lange
1 evaluations Published on
Read the full article Related papers
This article on Sciety

Abstract

Coronaviruses can become zoonotic as in the case of COVID-19, and hunting, sale, and consumption of wild animals in Southeast Asia facilitates an increased risk for such incidents. We sampled and tested rodents (851) and other mammals, and foundBetacoronavirusRNA in 12 rodents. The sequences belong to two separate genetic clusters, and relate closely to known rodent coronaviruses detected in the region, and distantly to human coronaviruses OC43 and HKU1. Considering close human-wildlife contact with many species in and beyond the region, a better understanding of virus diversity is urgently needed for the mitigation of future risks.

Related articles

Related articles are currently not available for this article.