Dozens of mammals could be susceptible to SARS-CoV-2

Numerous animals may be vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, according to a large study modelling how the virus might infect different animals' cells, led by UCL researchers. The study, published in  Scientific Reports , reports evidence that 26 animals regularly in contact with people may be susceptible to infection. The researchers investigated how the spike protein from SARS-CoV-2 could interact with the ACE2 protein it attaches to when it infects people. The focus of the investigation was whether mutations in the ACE2 protein in 215 different animals, that make it different from the human version, would reduce the stability of the binding complex between the virus protein and host protein. Binding to the protein enables the virus to gain entry into host cells; while it is possible the virus might be able to infect animals via another pathway, it is unlikely based on current evidence that the virus could infect an animal if it cannot form a stable binding complex with ACE2. The researchers found that for some animals, such as sheep and great apes (chimpanzee, gorilla, orangutan, and bonobo, many of which are endangered in the wild), the proteins would be able to bind together just as strongly as they do when the virus infects people. Some of the animals, such as sheep, have not yet been studied with infection tests, so this does not confirm that the animal can indeed be infected.