Over the past years, illegal shipments of pangolins have been happening in China, as per a report on BGR. Pangolins are mammals known to have been caring viruses similar to the new coronavirus. Even though, at the moment, the origins of this virus are still unclear, identifying the starting points of the research might help scientists.
The ongoing world pandemic is caused by the COVID-19. It is not the first time that scientists identify this type of virus. However, up until now, none of them caused severe symptoms, since they usually are not threatening human life. When SARS appeared, the common belief changed.
SARS-CoV-2 is similar to the original SARS. Both of them have identical origins, coming from horseshoe bats in China. Given the symptoms, it is very likely that both viruses originated from the same bat species. What is hard to establish is how the second virus was transmitted to humans.
The origins of the new coronavirus, the culprit for COVID-19 pandemic
In the original version of SARS, the virus was transmitted to civets and after that, it was given to a human. In the meantime, coronavirus appeared where horseshoe bats do not live, but the region is well-known for the other species of animals that they sell.
What scientists cannot tell is how the virus was transmitted from bats to pangolins and after that to humans. One thing is clear: if the pangolins are caring around this virus, the chances of getting it to humans are very high. Even though it is clear that bats hosted the SARS-CoV-2, identifying the second host of the virus before reaching the pangolins is crucial.
The research demonstrated that pangolins must be immediately removed from the wet market in China since they are perfect hosts and can continue spreading the virus. Scientists are trying their best to spread awareness. As they say, knowing how it all started will not help anyone in finding a cure for the new coronavirus, but can prevent other outbreaks from happening.
