Identifying SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins

Lam TT 1 , Jia N 2 , Zhang YW 2 , Shum MH 3 , Jiang JF 2 , Zhu HC 1 Show all authors , Tong YG 4 , Shi YX 5 , Ni XB 3 , Liao YS 3 , Li WJ 4 , Jiang BG 2 , Wei W 6 , Yuan TT 2 , Zheng K 5 , Cui XM 2 , Li J 2 , Pei GQ 2 , Qiang X 2 , Cheung WY 3 , Li LF 7 , Sun FF 5 , Qin S 2 , Huang JC 5 , Leung GM 3 , Holmes EC 8 , Hu YL 9 , Guan Y 10 , Cao WC 11

Affiliations 

  • 1 Joint Institute of Virology (Shantou University and The University of Hong Kong), Guangdong-Hongkong Joint Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Shantou University, Shantou, P. R. China
  • 2 State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, P. R. China
  • 3 State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, School of Public Health, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, P. R. China
  • 4 Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering (BAIC-SM), College of Life Science and Technology, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing, P. R. China
  • 5 Guangzhou Customs Technology Center, Guangzhou, P. R. China
  • 6 Life Sciences Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, P. R. China
  • 7 School of Information and Management, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, P. R. China
  • 8 Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity, School of Life and Environmental Sciences and School of Medical Sciences, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
  • 9 Life Sciences Institute, Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, P. R. China. huyanling@gxmu.edu.cn
  • 10 Joint Institute of Virology (Shantou University and The University of Hong Kong), Guangdong-Hongkong Joint Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Shantou University, Shantou, P. R. China. yguan@hku.hk
  • 11 State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing, P. R. China. caowc@bmi.ac.cn
Nature, 2020 07;583(7815):282-285.
PMID: 32218527 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2169-0

Abstract

The ongoing outbreak of viral pneumonia in China and across the world is associated with a new coronavirus, SARS-CoV-21. This outbreak has been tentatively associated with a seafood market in Wuhan, China, where the sale of wild animals may be the source of zoonotic infection2. Although bats are probable reservoir hosts for SARS-CoV-2, the identity of any intermediate host that may have facilitated transfer to humans is unknown. Here we report the identification of SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins (Manis javanica) seized in anti-smuggling operations in southern China. Metagenomic sequencing identified pangolin-associated coronaviruses that belong to two sub-lineages of SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses, including one that exhibits strong similarity in the receptor-binding domain to SARS-CoV-2. The discovery of multiple lineages of pangolin coronavirus and their similarity to SARS-CoV-2 suggests that pangolins should be considered as possible hosts in the emergence of new coronaviruses and should be removed from wet markets to prevent zoonotic transmission.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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