Abstract
The common trait among the betacoronaviruses that emerged during the past two decades (the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus—SARS-CoV, the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus—MERS-CoV, and the recent SARS coronavirus 2—SARS-CoV-2) is their probable animal origin, all deriving from viruses present in bat species. Bats have arisen the attention of the scientific community as reservoir of emerging viruses, given their wide geographical distribution, their biological diversity (around 1400 species, 21 different families and over 200 genera), and their peculiar ecological and physiological characteristics which seem to facilitate them in harbouring a high viral diversity. Several human activities may enable the viral spill-over from bats to humans, such as deforestation, land-use changes, increased livestock grazing or intensive production of vegetal cultures. In addition, the globalization of trade and high global human mobility allow these viruses to be disseminated in few hours in many parts of the World. In order to avoid the emergence of new pandemic threats in the future we need to substantially change our global models of social and economic development, posing the conservation of biodiversity and the preservation of natural ecosystems as a pillar for the protection of global human health.
Highlights
In mid-December 2019 a novel coronavirus (CoV) of probable animal origin was identified in Wuhan, Hubei province of China, where pneumonia cases of unknown origin were observed [1]
This review aims at describing the current knowledge about the characteristics making bats so efficient as reservoirs of coronaviruses of public health concern and the factors driving the emergence and transfer to humans of these pathogens
If we do not change the global models of social and economic development into sustainable approaches from the ecological point of view, and if we do not reverse our paradigms, posing the conservation of biodiversity and the preservation of natural ecosystems as a pillar for the protection of global human health, we will continue to drain resources from the Earth, disrupting the integrity and the contiguity of natural habitats, continuously recreating all those circumstances that are the major drivers for the emergence and spread of pandemic infectious diseases
Summary
In mid-December 2019 a novel coronavirus (CoV) of probable animal origin was identified in Wuhan, Hubei province of China, where pneumonia cases of unknown origin were observed [1]. This novel human CoV named lately SARS coronavirus 2. SARS-CoV-2 was able to spread to all continents in a few months, causing more than 85 million confirmed cases and 2 million deaths as of mid-January 2021. SARS-CoV-2 proved to be able to infect and sometimes cause various respiratory and enteric clinical signs in cats, dogs, minks and wild Felidae [16,17,18,19,20]. This review aims at describing the current knowledge about the characteristics making bats so efficient as reservoirs of coronaviruses of public health concern and the factors driving the emergence and transfer to humans of these pathogens
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