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| Pangolin emerged as another suspect of Coronavirus Outbreak. |
Recent research reveals that Malayan Pangolin appeared as
an intermediate host to transmit the coronavirus outbreak.
Unfortunately, pangolin
animal has ranked on third number illegal trafficked mammals. The shy, scaly
animal, pangolin is found in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and other parts of the
world as well.
According to the paper
published by animal charity, WildAid, roughly one million pangolins were stolen
from the wild in the last decades.
The solitary, nocturnal living-being is often considered as part of the scaly anteater. Its diet is insects as has no teeth, while its long
tongue assists in consuming its food.
There are national and
international laws to protect all eight subspecies of pangolin, but continuous
illegal smuggling of it put its two kinds in critical endanger zone.
The people from Africa,
China, and Vietnam consider Pangolin meat a delicacy, and further used in
conventional medicines in Asia.
The miserable pangolin
now is facing severe blame as a carrier of coronavirus pandemic, declared by
WHO.
Want to secure future
from the risk of such outbreak; scientists suggest governments should come up
with more strict laws to stop the sale of smuggled animals in wildlife market.
A paper is written in
journal “Nature”, says handling these animals calls for “Cautions”.
When coronavirus
attacked and devastating Chinese early this year, scientists have been starting
to finds its origin, Pangolin trafficking still was in action in Wuhan.
Prior, Bats are linked
with Coronaviruses; it was widely supposed that the novel coronaviruses
instigated in bats.
The only flying mammals,
bats, are pools for hundreds of coronaviruses. The reason behind this thought
is that bats have generated the ability to fight viruses that have made bats
live with multiple types of diseases.
The studies brought
about to find the origin of the Covid-19 (coronavirus) endorsed the theory that
virus originated in bats.
The samples used in the
analyzing process are taken from more than 30 Malayan pangolins caught as a result of
anti-smuggling operations between August 207 and January 2019.
This analysis led to the
discovery of two types of coronaviruses related to the new virus, known as
SARS-CoV-2, cause of the covid-19 pandemic that transmits to human were found
in animals smuggled into China. But the researchers still need confirmation
about the role of pangolin as an intermediate host in spreading coronavirus.
Pangolins are the only
mammals, reported to date, are now infected with SARS-Covid-2 that is the cause
of coronavirus other than bats.
The discovery of the
virus, similar to the SARS-CoV-2 as originated in pangolins family or types,
suggests that we can not ignore emerging possible role of pangolins as the
intermediate host for spreading novel coronavirus and should pose ban on its
entrance into the wet market to safeguard zoonotic [animals-human] transmission.
The researchers have
further throw lights on the “important and potential role of animals” in the
ecology of coronaviruses.
How virus moves from
wild animal, presumably a bat, to another animal and then human remains a
mystery. The mammals, including bats and pangolins, are found infected to date,
but the precise link among them is unidentified.
Time to pose a ban on
trade and consumption of wild animals
The time has come for
the world community to put pressure on their governments to take up actions
that abolish illegal wildlife business,” said pangolin conservation officer
named Elisa Panjang, work at Danau Girang Center in Malaysia.
In early 2000, China was
taken the similar actions following the SARS outbreak; unfortunately the trade
and consumption of wild animals were continued. Although once again, China has
imposed a strict ban on trade and consumption of wild animals in February, part
of an effort to control the coronavirus outbreak.
This permanent ban will
help end the local trade of wild animals, like pangolins.
Similar moves are being
observed in Vietnam.
It was important not to
reach a conclusion instantly just based on the published paper, said professor
Andrew Cunningham of Zoological Society of London (ZSL). The source of
discovered coronavirus is still scant- the virus detected might be from natural
pangolin or transmitted from other species during capture and death.