Research Results: Emerging New Type Of Corona Virus Derived From Dogs

JAKARTA - A new type of coronavirus believed to be from dogs emerged among patients hospitalized for pneumonia in 2017-2018, and may be the eighth foreign coronavirus known to cause disease in humans if confirmed as a pathogen, according to research. Reporting by Antara, Friday, May 21, research scientists, published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases on Thursday, May 20, said their findings underscore the public health threat from the animal coronavirus. According to him, they have tested nose test samples taken from 301 pneumonia patients at a hospital in Sarawak, eastern Malaysia. Eight of the samples, mostly from children under the age of 5, returned positive for coronavirus infection. Further genome sequences found that the new breed, named CCoV-HuPn-2018, has similar characteristics from other coronaviruses known to have infected cats and pigs, but is largely similar to those known to have infected dogs.

It also has a gene delesi, or mutation, which is not found in known dog coronaviruses, but is present in human strains such as SARS-COV and SARS-COV-2, the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic. The source of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus itself, whether animal or otherwise, remains unclear. The journal's authors said the findings indicated that the virus may have recently moved from animal to human, but stressed that more research was needed to determine whether the virus could be transmitted between humans. They also said that it remains unclear whether the virus can make people sick, noting that it is likely the virus is simply "carried" in the patient's airways without causing the disease. There are seven coronaviruses known to cause disease in humans: four that cause the common cold, and three known causes of SARS, MERS and COVID-19.