COVID-19 in animals: A need for One Health approach

Abstract

Background: SARS-CoV-2 has been identified as the cause of the COVID-19, which caused a global pandemic. It is a pathogen that causes respiratory disease and can easily navigate the interspecies barrier. A significant number of COVID-19 cases in animals have been reported worldwide, including but not limited to animals in farms, captivity, and household pets. Thus, assessing the affected population and anticipating 'at risk' population becomes essential.

Objectives: This article aims to emphasize the zoonotic potential of SARS- CoV-2 and discuss the One Health aspects of the disease.

Content: This is a narrative review of recently published studies on animals infected with SARS-CoV-2, both experimental and natural. The elucidation of the mechanism of infection by binding SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to the ACE-2 receptor cells in humans has led to bioinformatic analysis that has identified a few other susceptible species in silico. While infections in animals have been extensively reported, no intermediary host has yet been identified for this disease. The articles collected in this review have been grouped into four categories; experimental inoculations, infection in wild animals, infection in farm animals and infection in pet animals, along with a review of literature in each category. The risk of infection transmission between humans and animals and vice versa and the importance of the One Health approach has been discussed at length in this article.

Keywords: Covid 19; One Health; SARS-CoV-2; Zoonosis.

Fig. 1

Overview of COVID-19 spread to animals from humans and from animals to humans. Solid arrows represent confirmation of disease transmission and dotted arrows represent transmission that we are unsure of.