Eight new rodent viruses were found in Hainan by Chinese researchers. If they cross the species barrier, the viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, can infect humans.
Hainan, a tropical island in southern China, has eight new viruses discovered by Chinese researchers. These viruses were found in rats, and specialists warn that they might infect people if they cross the species barrier. Scientists responsible for pandemic preparation made the breakthrough.
Researchers from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College found several viruses, including one linked to SARS-CoV-2, the COVID-19 pandemic virus. They found these viruses in 682 throat and anus samples from 341 rodents in Hainan Province between 2017 and 2021.
We detected eight new viruses in over 700 Hainan rodent samples. One virus belongs to the SARS-CoV-2 family, which produces COVID-19. An specialist warned that the viruses detected in rats have a “high probability” of infecting humans if they overcome the species barrier.
The newly discovered viruses included CoV-HMU-1, a coronavirus like COVID-19. Several additional virus-related diseases were found:
Two novel dengue and yellow fever-related pestiviruses.
A new stomach bug-causing astrovirus.
Two novel parvoviruses can cause flu-like symptoms.
Two novel papillomaviruses, which cause genital warts and cancer.New pestiviruses and parvoviruses were found in Edwards’s long-tailed giant rat and the Sikkim rat, which were previously undiscovered.
“The results expand our knowledge of viral classification and host range and suggest there are highly diverse, undiscovered viruses that have evolved independently in their unique wildlife hosts in inaccessible areas,” the researchers said. If these viruses cross the host barrier, they could cause zoonosis.
Conclusion
The Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College found eight new viruses on tropical Hainan, southern China. Rodents carried the viruses, which specialists say might infect people if they cross the species barrier. The researchers detected the viruses in 682 samples from 341 rodents’ throats and anuses in Hainan Province between 2017 and 2021. The discovered pathogens included two pestiviruses related to yellow fever and dengue, a stomach bug-causing astrovirus, two parvoviruses that resembled the flu, and two papillomaviruses that cause genital warts and certain malignancies. The findings imply highly diversified, undiscovered viruses that evolved independently in their distinct wildlife hosts in remote places, expanding our knowledge of viral categorization and host range.
