Najmul Haider
COVID-19—Zoonosis or Emerging Infectious Disease?
Haider, Najmul; Rothman-Ostrow, Peregrine; Osman, Abdinasir Yusuf; Arruda, Liã Bárbara; Macfarlane-Berry, Laura; Elton, Linzy; Thomason, Margaret J.; Yeboah-Manu, Dorothy; Ansumana, Rashid; Kapata, Nathan; Mboera, Leonard; Rushton, Jonathan; McHugh, Timothy D.; Heymann, David L.; Zumla, Alimuddin; Kock, Richard A.
Authors
Peregrine Rothman-Ostrow
Abdinasir Yusuf Osman
Liã Bárbara Arruda
Laura Macfarlane-Berry
Linzy Elton
Margaret J. Thomason
Dorothy Yeboah-Manu
Rashid Ansumana
Nathan Kapata
Leonard Mboera
Jonathan Rushton
Timothy D. McHugh
David L. Heymann
Alimuddin Zumla
Richard A. Kock
Contributors
Najmul Haider
Researcher
Abstract
The World Health Organization defines a zoonosis as any infection naturally transmissible from vertebrate animals to humans. The pandemic of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 has been classified as a zoonotic disease, however, no animal reservoir has yet been found, so this classification is premature. We propose that COVID-19 should instead be classified an “emerging infectious disease (EID) of probable animal origin.” To explore if COVID-19 infection fits our proposed re-categorization vs. the contemporary definitions of zoonoses, we reviewed current evidence of infection origin and transmission routes of SARS-CoV-2 virus and described this in the context of known zoonoses, EIDs and “spill-over” events. Although the initial one hundred COVID-19 patients were presumably exposed to the virus at a seafood Market in China, and despite the fact that 33 of 585 swab samples collected from surfaces and cages in the market tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, no virus was isolated directly from animals and no animal reservoir was detected. Elsewhere, SARS-CoV-2 has been detected in animals including domesticated cats, dogs, and ferrets, as well as captive-managed mink, lions, tigers, deer, and mice confirming zooanthroponosis. Other than circumstantial evidence of zoonotic cases in mink farms in the Netherlands, no cases of natural transmission from wild or domesticated animals have been confirmed. More than 40 million human COVID-19 infections reported appear to be exclusively through human-human transmission. SARS-CoV-2 virus and COVID-19 do not meet the WHO definition of zoonoses. We suggest SARS-CoV-2 should be re-classified as an EID of probable animal origin.
Citation
Haider, N., Rothman-Ostrow, P., Osman, A. Y., Arruda, L. B., Macfarlane-Berry, L., Elton, L., …Kock, R. A. (in press). COVID-19—Zoonosis or Emerging Infectious Disease?. Frontiers in Public Health, 8, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.596944
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Oct 20, 2020 |
Online Publication Date | Nov 26, 2020 |
Deposit Date | Nov 27, 2020 |
Publicly Available Date | Dec 4, 2020 |
Journal | Frontiers in Public Health |
Publisher | Frontiers Media |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 8 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.596944 |
Keywords | COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, zoonoses, emerging infectious disease (EID), spillover |
Public URL | https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1441248 |
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COVID-19—Zoonosis or Emerging Infectious Disease?
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Licence
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Publisher Licence URL
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
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