What we (do not) know about mammal coronavirus and general virus? Using bibliometric information to identify neglected taxonomic groups and potential viral reservoirs of zoonotic importance

Rhewter Nunes,Renata Oliveira Dias,Mariana Pires De Campos Telles,Flavia Melo Rodrigues

doi:10.33837/msj.v3i1.1240

Rhewter Nunes, Renata Oliveira Dias + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.33837/msj.v3i1.1240

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic is currently advancing in the world and has killed more people than other recent coronavirus outbreaks like SARS and MERS together. Coronaviruses known to infect humans were all associated to mammal sources, with different species acting as both natural and/or intermediate hosts of these viruses. Although the zoonotic origin of human coronaviruses is well accepted, a great number of mammal species were not yet investigated as their potential to carry these viruses. This work aimed to provide an overview of the current state of scientific knowledge about what are the mammal groups well known to be associated to coronaviruses and other viruses and what are the most neglected groups in these studies. Here we analyze the production of scientific publications about these and other viruses in association with the 29 taxonomic orders of the Mammalia class. Our results highlighted that most of these taxonomic orders have been little studied or completely unexplored in researches with this focus, with only six orders accumulating more than 99% of the articles on coronaviruses in mammals. Ten mammal groups were not found in any scientific publication in association with coronaviruses, with four of them not found even in works mentioning any type of viruses. These results reinforce the importance of identify all the natural and intermediate hosts for viruses to improve monitoring of potential zoonosis and reduce the chances of new disease outbreaks.

Highlights

Coronavirus is a category of viruses with singlestranded and positive-sense RNA genome that can cause respiratory diseases in mammals and birds (Marra et al, 2003, Masters, 2006, Schoeman & Fielding, 2019)
This work aimed to provide an overview of the current state of scientific knowledge about what are the mammal groups well known to be associated to coronaviruses and other viruses and what are the most neglected groups in these studies
We found a total of 204,893 articles related to viruses in mammals but only 5.08% of them (10,412) mentioned coronaviruses

Summary

Introduction

Coronavirus is a category of viruses with singlestranded and positive-sense RNA genome that can cause respiratory diseases in mammals and birds (Marra et al, 2003, Masters, 2006, Schoeman & Fielding, 2019). Infections occur mainly through the respiratory tract but can affect the digestive system of different animals, including some Artiodactyla, such as cattle and pigs (Chu et al, 2014, Pensaert & Callebaut, 1974). These infections can show mild, flu-like symptoms, or even lead to death (Guan et al, 2003). The three best-known strains, due to their potential to cause severe acute respiratory syndrome, are SARS-CoV (SARS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), MERS-CoV (MERS, Middle East Respiratory Syndrome), and SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19, Coronavirus disease 2019) (Haagmans et al, 2014, Lipsitch, Swerdlow, & Finelli, 2020, Marra et al, 2003).

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