Researchers find new coronavirus type originating in dogs in latest study

A new type of coronavirus infection, which is believed to have origins in dogs, was detected in Malaysian patients hospitalized with pneumonia in 2017-2018. As per a recently published study, the new canine corona shared characteristics of other coronaviruses known to have infected cats and pig,  but was mostly similar to one that is known to have infected dogs. The strain has not been confirmed as a discreet pathogen as of now, but if it does, it would mark the eighth coronavirus known to infect humans.

Eight samples tested positive 

Researchers said that, back in 2017-18, they had tested nasal swabs of 301 pneumonia patients at a hospital in the East Malaysian state of Sarawak. It was then that they found that eight samples out of the total tested positive for the CCoV-HuPn-2018 or the canine coronavirus. Researchers also highlighted that most of the samples which came out infected belonged to children below five years of age.

While the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) is still mutating and infecting lakhs of individuals every day, this study, researchers touted highlights the threats of animal coronavirus. They said that their findings indicated that the canine virus likely recently jumped from animals to humans, but stressed that more studies were needed to determine whether it can be transmitted between people. Additionally, the researchers, in their study published in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal also said that they were still unsure if the new strain was capable of making people sick. It is imperative to note that the source of COVID-19 itself remains unclear as of now.

“How common this virus is, and whether it can be transmitted efficiently from dogs to humans or between humans, nobody knows. What’s more important is that these coronaviruses are likely spilling over to humans from animals much more frequently than we know. We are missing them because most hospital diagnostic tests only pick up known human coronaviruses," said the lead author of the study Gregory Gray, a professor of medicine, global health and environmental health at Duke University.

The study was supported by the US. Naval Medical Research Center-Asia, Vysnova Partners, Duke University’s Global Health Institute and The Ohio State University.

Image: Unsplash/Pixabay