CAN UNCONVENTIONAL MEAT OR BUSHMEAT ACT AS A SOURCE FOR SARS-COV-2

Abstract

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), first reported in people exposed to a local seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, China has already affected more than 76 million people around the globe resulting in the death of nearly 1.7 million people as of December 21, 2020. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can potentially infect other animal species owing to the superior host adaptability. Sporadic cases of natural SARS-CoV-2 infections have been reported in dogs, cats, lion, puma, and tiger while experimental inoculation in several other susceptible animal species resulted in infection. Although, bats are considered the reservoir host for SARS-CoV-2, pangolins, a wild mammal of order Pholidota, is suspected to be the missing link that contributed to transmitting the virus to human beings due to its wide consumption in the Chinese culinary practice. Unconventional meat is consumed in a large quantity all around the world since it acts as a ‘low cost’ or ‘costless’ nutritional source in underdeveloped countries. However, in certain communities, geographies, and niches of the globe, meat from wild and other free-ranging mammals, rodents, and reptiles are used as delicacies. The overexploitation of these ‘unconventional meat animals’ for various reasons threatened biodiversity and contributed to the emergence of novel diseases having significant public health implications. With the swift emergence of SARS-CoV-2, humans have recognized the important role played by wildlife and their ecosystem in the emergence of novel infections. The interface between human and wild animals is considered the hotspot that facilitate cross-species jumping and disease spillover. Establishing an efficient surveillance system at a potential human-animal interface can limit the spread of novel zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19.