Can Animals Like Bats, Pangolins, and Ticks Would Be Considered As Long-Term Reservoirs of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Publisher



Aghajani J¹ ; Farnia P¹ ; Ayoubi S¹ ; Farnia P¹ ; Ghanavi J¹ ; Velayati A¹ Show Affiliations
Source: Biomedical and Biotechnology Research Journal Published:2020

Abstract

In December 2019, there was an outbreak of pneumonia with an unknown cause in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. Within less than 3-4 months, the virus has spread to more than 200 countries. The virus rapidly transmitted from different places of the world with various cultural traditions. Thereby, the question is remained to be resolved about the main intermediate carrier of diseases in different animals. Studied showed that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was originated from horseshoe bats, but its intermediate hosts are still largely unknown. Therefore, the possibility of horseshoe bat infection by ticks is high during the flight between plants or when resting in these places. Female ticks can either feed on horseshoe bat blood for 5-7 days before shedding or can form large aggregations by laying several thousand eggs in the right places or on them. Once they feed on horseshoe bat blood containing SARS-CoV-2, they can transfer the infection to the next generations without the need to reuse infections from the reservoir host. With all the potential features that this creature has, it is mandatory to investigate the presence or absences of SARS-CoV-2, especially when we know that ticks co-exist with that horseshoe bats. These factors highlight the importance of studying the viral epidemiology in the tick population. Thereby, based on the wide distribution of ticks and their co-existence with horseshoe bat, we suggest further studies on ticks that might act as one of the main intermediate hosts in different animals. © 2020 Medknow.