Are pigs past, present, or future vectors for COVID-19? The science is all over the place. Below you will find the notable posts on the issue from Porcine Coronavirus University, a website started at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic when it became clear that pigs have the ACE2 receptors which are susceptible to the virus. We were also intrigued by the fact that one of the first people who was stricken with the illness sold pork in the Wuhan Seafood market. We still are not aware of any COVID-19 testing China has done on pigs in the Wuhan and Hubei area where pigs are potentially already compromised by African Swine Fever, a disease which has been called "the AIDS of swine."
Researchers in China may have issued warning about Covid-19 in pork: "Besides pets, livestock are another category of mammals that are frequently in direct contact with humans. We profiled the ACE2 expression in cows, pigs, rabbits (which can also serve as pets), and goats. In these animals, ACE2 was highly expressed in multiple tissues including kidney, liver, and heart, but not in muscles (Figures 5D-5F and S2B in Supplementary data). ACE2 was also highly expressed in the fat of pigs. The data suggested that storage of fresh or undercooked meat, especially viscera tissues, might be risky."
New research from China "We found that SARS-CoV-2 replicates poorly in dogs, pigs, chickens, and ducks, but efficiently in ferrets and cats."
Pirbright Institute in England is testing a COVID-19 vaccine on pigs.
Are pigeons an intermediate vector of COVID-19 in New York and other pandemic hotspots? Research: "Combining the results obtained by the two methods and considering the common animals living in Wuhan, we predicted pangolin, cat, cow, buffalo, goat, sheep and pigeon as the potential intermediate hosts for SARS-CoV-2, together with civet or swine."
'If COVID-19 were to jump species again and be receptive to animals, a likely animal on the farm to catch it would be pigs, Kenney said. That’s because pigs have a similar protein to humans that the SARS virus, a coronavirus cousin to COVID-19, uses to infect humans. Studies show that it may work in pigs, too."
Will this video force scientists to consider pigs as the possible intermediate vectors of the Wuhan Coronavirus?
Yes, it looks like pigs may be involved with the COVID-19 pandemic or soon will be.
Microbiologist Florian Krammer suggests pigs might be the intermediate vectors of the Wuhan Coronavirus
The ACE2 receptors in pigs might indicate that pigs are a big issue for COVID-19 (the Wuhan Coronavirus)
The Bortz Virology Group supports investigating possible Wuhan Coronavirus infection of pigs
An Ontario Veterinarian warns that COVID-19 could infect pigs
COVID-19 warning? SARS-associated Coronavirus Transmitted from Human to Pig
Zheng-Li Shi, a virologist at the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, and her colleagues analyzed samples of the new virus from seven patients who had been admitted to a hospital in late December. The researchers isolated the virus from one patient and used it to infect cells grown in a laboratory. When cells had the ACE2 protein on their surface, the virus was able to break into them. The virus could use ACE2 proteins from humans to get into cells, as well as human cells with ACE2 proteins from Chinese horseshoe bats, civets and pigs."
The COVID-19 Smoking Gun? Pig Farms in Wuhan China, Still Sending African Swine Fever Meat to the Supermarkets?
There are 4 million pigs in the Lombardy, Italy area. Could they become infected with the Wuhan Coronavirus?
The kind of meat sold at the Wuhan market where the Wuhan Coronavirus was first thought to have begun
Do the commonalities of SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 increase the probability that pigs are involved with COVID-19?
T-cell problems in Wuhan Coronavirus patients will complicate the disease for the immune-compromised.
Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals
Epoch Times on Wuhan Coronavirus: "If Chinese authorities refuse to disclose testing data for animal samples, it could imply an intentional cover-up of the true origin of the 2019-nCoV outbreak."
Is the popularity of "warm meat" from pigs driving the Coronavirus epidemic in China?
Is there a connection between the African Swine Fever epidemic in Wenzhou and the Wuhan coronavirus epidemic?
If COVID-19 is a coinfection of African Swine Fever, what role can Chloroquine play?
The Friedrich-Löffler-Institut is currently testing the susceptibility of animals to SARS-CoV-2 in a series of tests and expects the first results at the end of April. Only then can the possible danger to humans and animals be assessed.
A pig vaccine for COVID-19 is being researched
Business Insider: The most likely intermediary species for the new coronavirus are bats, pigs, civets, or pangolins (not snakes, as some researchers initially suggested). That's because these animals also have the same ACE2 receptors.
Infectious Disease Epidemiologist: "Looking for novel coronaviruses in pigs should be a top priority."
