SARS-CoV-2 virus can multiply in animals: Study
Europe has already witnessed outbreaks in mink farms in Denmark where it was found that the infected animals passed the virus back to people
HYDERABAD: Testing on animals for efficacy of Covid-19 vaccine hides the true possible potential of the SARS-CoV-2’s ability to make the leap from humans to various animals, and the impact of such a jump, it is feared.
No further proof is needed than the testing of Covid-19 vaccine candidates on animals after infecting them with the virus. This actually demonstrates that the virus not only can infect the animals but also survive and grow in them, according to a senior scientist.
Among animals that were tested for vaccine efficacy in India, after they were injected with Covid-19 causing virus were rats, mice, rabbits, and rhesus macaques, the commonly found monkeys.
Research in several parts of the world has demonstrated that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can find its way into dogs, cats, and wild animals such as gorillas, big cats such as pumas, and snow leopards, and apes such as gorillas in zoos. Europe has already witnessed outbreaks in mink farms in Denmark where it was found that these infected animals passed the virus back to people.
The Paris-based World Organization for Animal Health, with 182 member countries, has been keeping an eye on how coronavirus is behaving with both domesticated and wild animals. India, incidentally, is a member of the World Organization for Animal Health.