COVID-19 in animals: Contact with humans and potential transmissions

Selleck, P.

In December 2019, cases of atypical pneumonia were diagnosed in hospital patients in Wuhan, Hubei province, China. The disease was characterised by a respiratory disorder of variable severity ranging from mild upper respiratory tract illness to acute respiratory distress syndrome, severe interstitial pneumonia and death. The source of the virus is yet to be confirmed but wild animals sold at wholesale seafood and exotic animal markets of Wuhan were implicated. The virus was called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the disease designated as Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19). As of the 13 January 2021, the WHO had reported 90 335 008 cases and 1 954 336 deaths in 216 countries. The isolation of related coronaviruses from bats suggests that they may be a potential host species. This paper is a review of the current literature on SARS-CoV-2 infections of animals and the animal challenge models for the in-vivo evaluation of vaccines and therapeutics.