Rodents could spread next devastating pandemic of evolved SARS viruses, study claims

A recent study by Princeton University in the United States suggests the next devastating pandemic could emerge from rats as rodents can be asymptomatic carriers of viruses akin to SARS. The researchers looked at the receptors that SARS viruses bind to in a variety of mammalian species. The findings revealed that some rodent species had previously been exposed to SARS-like coronaviruses and had developed resistance to them.

The virus that causes COVID-19 infection, SARS-CoV-2, is a zoonotic infection that spread from a non-human animal to people. According to previous research, Chinese Horseshoe bats are hosts to a variety of SARS-like viruses and tolerate them without showing severe symptoms. In the latest study, published in PLOS Computational Biology, researchers conducted an evolutionary investigation of the ACE2 receptors, which are exploited by SARS viruses to gain access into mammalian cells, across species.

The amino acid sequences in the sites of the ACE2 receptor, known to bind SARS viruses, were substantially conserved in primates. Rodents, on the other hand, had more diversity and a faster rate of evolution in these spots. Overall, the findings showed that SARS-like infections have not been evolutionary drivers in primate evolution, but that some rodent species have likely been exposed to SARS-like coronavirus infections for a considerable evolutionary period. "Our findings show that ancestral rodents may have been infected with SARS-like coronaviruses multiple times and developed tolerance or resistance to them as a result of these infections," stated Professor Mona Singh, the lead author of the study.

She further stated this presents the intriguing potential that some current rodent species may be asymptomatic carriers of SARS-like Coronaviruses. As the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be transferred from animal to human, discovering animals that contain the virus while also being immune to it could be crucial in preventing future outbreaks, noted the researchers. SARS-like coronaviruses, such as SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, are a type of pathogen that has posed a serious health risk to humans. Meanwhile, there are significant variances in the severity of symptoms induced by these viruses across the animal kingdom, according to researchers. 

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