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Nat Microbiol
. 2022 Aug 2.
doi: 10.1038/s41564-022-01181-1. Online ahead of print.
Trafficked Malayan pangolins contain viral pathogens of humans
Wenqiang Shi # 1 , Mang Shi # 2 , Teng-Cheng Que # 3 , Xiao-Ming Cui # 1 4 , Run-Ze Ye # 5 , Luo-Yuan Xia 1 5 , Xin Hou 2 , Jia-Jing Zheng 1 6 , Na Jia 1 4 , Xing Xie 7 , Wei-Chen Wu 2 , Mei-Hong He 3 , Hui-Feng Wang 8 , Yong-Jie Wei 3 , Ai-Qiong Wu 3 , Sheng-Feng Zhang 7 , Yu-Sheng Pan 1 , Pan-Yu Chen 3 , Qian Wang 1 5 , Shou-Sheng Li 3 , Yan-Li Zhong 3 , Ying-Jiao Li 3 , Luo-Hao Tan 3 , Lin Zhao 5 , Jia-Fu Jiang 9 10 , Yan-Ling Hu 11 12 , Wu-Chun Cao 13 14 15
Affiliations
- PMID: 35918420
- DOI: 10.1038/s41564-022-01181-1
Abstract
Pangolins are the most trafficked wild animal in the world according to the World Wildlife Fund. The discovery of SARS-CoV-2-related coronaviruses in Malayan pangolins has piqued interest in the viromes of these wild, scaly-skinned mammals. We sequenced the viromes of 161 pangolins that were smuggled into China and assembled 28 vertebrate-associated viruses, 21 of which have not been previously reported in vertebrates. We named 16 members of Hunnivirus, Pestivirus and Copiparvovirus pangolin-associated viruses. We report that the L-protein has been lost from all hunniviruses identified in pangolins. Sequences of four human-associated viruses were detected in pangolin viromes, including respiratory syncytial virus, Orthopneumovirus, Rotavirus A and Mammalian orthoreovirus. The genomic sequences of five mammal-associated and three tick-associated viruses were also present. Notably, a coronavirus related to HKU4-CoV, which was originally found in bats, was identified. The presence of these viruses in smuggled pangolins identifies these mammals as a potential source of emergent pathogenic viruses.