Bats and pangolins are not the only wild animals harboring the new coronavirus. Rodents such as rats, mice, and shrews can also carry viruses that are sometimes capable of jumping into our own species.
Among the red-backed bank voles (Myodes glareolus) mice, researchers have now identified a widespread and common coronavirus that they call the Grimsö virus, named after the location where it was discovered.
It is not yet known whether this newly discovered virus is harmful to humans or not. Still, the findings are a good reminder of why we need to monitor wildlife viruses, especially those carried by animals living near us.
"We still don't know what potential threat the Grimsö virus might pose to public health. However, based on our observations and the previous Corona viruses identified among these mice, there are good reasons to continue to monitor the Corona virus among wild rodents," said the expert. virology to Lundkvist from Uppsala University in Sweden, quoted from Science Alert, Monday (6/6/2022).
Red-backed bank voles are some of the most common rodents found in Europe. Their paths often intersect with our own species, and they are known hosts for the Puumala virus, which causes the dengue fever known as nephropathia epidemic in humans.
When seeking shelter from adverse weather conditions, rats have been known to take shelter in human-owned buildings, and this increases our risk of contracting the diseases they carry into our homes.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic began, Lundkvist and his colleagues had been trying to monitor wildlife disease among mice, to better anticipate when their virus could spread. Given the unrelenting pace of climate change and habitat destruction, it is likely that our interactions with rats will increase in the future.
Mouse research
Between 2015 and 2017, researchers at Uppsala studied 450 wild red-backed bank voles mice from a place west of Stockholm called Grimsö. The team found the new betacoronavirus circulating in 3.4% of the samples.
Betacoronaviruses are usually found among bats and rodents, and when they jump to humans, they cause the common cold and respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2.
There is no evidence yet of the new mini mouse virus jumping into humans. But COVID-19 has taught us something, that we need to increase surveillance of wildlife diseases to prevent further outbreaks.
Over three years, researchers in Sweden discovered several different strains of the Grimsö virus circulating among populations of red-backed bank voles mice.
What's more, other closely related coronaviruses are widely distributed among mice in other parts of Europe, such as France, Germany and Poland. This suggests that the creature is a natural reservoir for this disease.
The very different nature of the Grimsö virus is a bad sign. This shows the virus is easy to adapt to new hosts and habitats. The various strains found circulating could have come from the red-backed bank voles rat, or they could have jumped from another species.
"Given that red-backed bank voles are one of the most common rodent species in Sweden and Europe, our findings suggest that Grimsö virus may be circulating widely in bank voles and further demonstrate the importance of sentinel coronavirus surveillance in wild small mammals, particularly in the wild. wild rodents," the researchers wrote.
Another recent study warned that human exploitation of wild spaces directly increases the risk of animal diseases being transmitted to humans. This risk is especially pronounced among animals such as bats, mice and primates, which have abundant populations and have readily adapted to the human environment.