‘Pangolin’ Identified as the ‘Potential link’ to the Spread of Coronavirus

In a new finding, Chinese scientists have confirmed that the endangered pangolins are the link that has facilitated the spread of the novel coronavirus across China and the world. So far, nearly 35,000 people have been infected and 630 killed by the deadly virus, which has spread to more than 25 countries across the world.

Researchers working on the evolution of the virus at the South China Agricultural University have identified the mammal as a “potential intermediate host”, the university said in its statement, without providing any other details.

The Coronavirus, which has first emerged late last year at a live animal market in central China’s Wuhan city, is first believed to have originated in the bats or seafood, but with this new findings researchers now are suggesting, there could have been an “intermediate host” in its transmission to the humans.

The scientists tested more than 1,000 samples taken from wild animals and found the genome sequences of viruses found on the pangolins to be 99 percent identical to those on the coronavirus patients.

According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the pangolin is considered the most trafficked animal on the earth and in the past one decade, more than one million pangolins have been smuggled from Asian and African forests. 

These animals are then taken to the markets in China and Vietnam, where their scales are used in making traditional medicine. Despite having no direct medical benefits, they are poached and their meat is bought to the black market.

In January this year, China has ordered a temporary ban on the trade in the wild animals until the epidemic is under control. Though conservationists have long accused China of tolerating a shadowy trade involving the endangered animals for food or as ingredients in the traditional medicines.

The SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus that has killed more than 630 people in China and Hong Kong in the year 2002-03 also has been traced to the wild animals, with scientists' findings, it originated in bats, later reaching humans through civets.

Now, the epidemic, which has been declared, by WHO as global emergency has so far killed more than 720 people in China itself, with 86 new deaths only on Friday. Across the country, the virus has infected more than 34,400 people. Around the world 120 others have died because of the virus.