Study says stray dogs eating bat meat may have started pandemic
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The coronavirus pandemic may have been started by stray dogs eating bat meat, according to a study.
Professor Xuhua Xia, from the University of Ottawa’s biology department, has suggested that stray dogs are the most likely intermediate host for the transmission of Sars-CoV-2 into humans.
The paper, published Tuesday in the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution, focused on a part of the coronavirus genome called CpG, and a protein in animal immune systems, Zap, which helps protect us from viruses.
The study explored the idea that SARS-CoV-2 has evolved to evade the protective human ZAP protein, also known as zinc finger antiviral protein, by reducing genomic CpG. Low levels of CpG would encourage the virus to replicate, the study speculated.
Of the thousands of genomes analyzed, dog intestines were the best host for replication, said study author Xuhua Xia, a biology professor at the University of Ottawa.
According to the study, the ancestor of the new coronavirus and its nearest relative – a bat coronavirus – infected the intestines of dogs. They then evolved before moving to humans.
Prof Xia said the results suggested “the importance of monitoring Sars-like coronaviruses in feral dogs in the fight against Sars-CoV-2”.
But Professor James Wood, head of the department of Veterinary Medicine and researcher in infection dynamics at the University of Cambridge, was not convinced.
He said: “There is far too much inference and far too little direct data. I do not see anything in this paper to support this supposition and am concerned that this paper has been published in this journal.
“I do not believe that any dog owners should be concerned as a result of this work.”
