INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
HYDERABAD: The sheer variety of animals-- some that scramble for space with individuals, and the others that reside in Indian forests-- that
are susceptible to catching Covid-19, is providing some scientists a serious cause for worry, particularly in a nation like India where
officials privately confess to inadequate testing of people for the disease and underreporting of Covid-19 cases.Monkeys, leopards, typical
buffalos, cows, goats, dogs, felines, Nilgiri Tahr, clouded leopard, and even donkeys and horses, all have something in common with humans
when it concerns Covid-19
They carry the exact same ACE2 receptors, the biding points out in cells to which the SARS-CoV-2 attaches to as it multiplies and lead to
varying degrees of infection
Sero studies performed in the nation have actually consistently shown that the variety of individuals who established antibodies to
SARS-CoV-2, which triggers Covid-19, are much greater than the cases that have actually been discovered.It was just recently that
researchers from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), the National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), and vaccine maker Bharat
Biotech, announced that 54 percent of individuals in Hyderabad have established Covid-19 antibodies.Incidentally, in Telangana state alone,
the overall Covid-19 cases, according to the state health department as on Sunday, stood at 3,00,011
Hyderabad has a population of more than 10 lakh people and if the just recently announced sero survey results are anything to pass, then a
minimum of 5,40,000 individuals in the city alone were exposed to, or contracted the virus
And there is no information on the number of more could have been exposed by the undiscovered Covid-19 providers either in the city, or in
the remainder of the state
Amongst the animals on which prospect vaccine effectiveness was checked at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune in 2015, were
monkeys (rhesus macaques)
According to studies published by researchers from Bharat Biotech, Indian Council for Medical Research Study (ICMR), and NIV, the tests
revealed that Rhesus Macaques can be infected by Covid-19 causing infection, after which the vaccines were checked on them for efficacy in
These monkeys, captured in the wild in Maharashtra, were selected for the tests for the simple factor that they have among the greatest
levels of ACE2 receptors among animals
A research study released in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS) as far back as in
August last year, reported that 410 unique vertebrate types were recognized as having ACE2 receptors
They consist of 252 mammals, 72 birds, 65 fishes, 17 reptiles and 4 amphibians
The study discovered that rhesus macaques, among other animals, were discovered to have at least 23/25 ACE2 residues identical to human ACE2
and other constraints at SARS-CoV-2 S-binding hot spots.More than half of the animals that have Covid-19 prone ACE2 receptors jostle for
area with people - whether they are livestock, cows, canines, cats, pigs, donkeys, horses, or perhaps monkeys
The real worry is what if undiscovered Covid-19 providers who communicate with these animals pass on the infection to them? And what if the
virus at some stage leaps back from these animals to humans? We have no system to keep an eye on the health of people, whose lives are
carefully bound to these animals, a senior scientist told Deccan Chronicle.Making matters worse is the method medical wastes, particularly
utilized face masks, are disposed of in public places and in trash stacks, the latter which are gone to regularly by roaming pets, and in
Even more uneasy is the interactions in between people and monkeys, with both species equally vulnerable to the virus
We do not know what is happening on this front
And this is a cause for concern
If the infection spreads to wild populations of monkeys, then there is no chance of saying what might be in store later
We require a robust system to monitor what is happening amongst all these animals and people who interact with them, the scientist
warned.Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews.Follow us on Facebook, Twitter
