Even with limited data, researchers fear the presently overlooked pair represent “a major threat to public health.“
Two relatively new viruses with animal origins have been flying under the radar but are ripe to evolve and risk future epidemics and pandemics. This is the warning of scientists from the University of Florida who are calling for improved surveillance, diagnostics and treatments against both influenza D virus and canine coronavirus.
“Our knowledge about the viruses’ epidemiology and clinical manifestations are limited to a modest number of research studies,“ warned the researchers in their paper. “Even so, the limited data regarding these novel, newly detected viruses indicate that they are a major threat to public health.“ Paper author and microbiologist professor John Lednicky added in a statement: “If these viruses evolve the capacity to easily transmit person to person, they may be able to cause epidemics or pandemics since most people won’t have immunity to them.“ Stock image: people walk, wearing face masks during a pandemic What Is Influenza D? First discovered back in 2011, the influenza D virus has mainly been associated with infections in pigs and cows, but it has also been detected in various other livestock, and wild species. These include poultry as well as deer, giraffes, kangaroos. Scientists also believe that influenza D contributes to bovine respiratory disease—a condition that is caused by a complex mix of both environmental and host factors as well as pathogens—which is estimated to cost the U.S. cattle industry some $1 billion annually. The researchers’ previous studies have revealed that 97 percent of cattle workers in Colorado and Florida carry antibodies against influenza D, suggesting that they had been exposed to the virus in the past. These infections are what doctors call ‘subclinical’—meaning that, so far, they have not caused any symptoms of illness. However, the researchers are warning that the influenza D virus exhibits signs that it is primed for rapid evolution, meaning that the infection could soon become symptomatic. In fact, a strain of influenza D recently isolated in China has been found to have evolved the capacity for human-to-human transmission. What Is Canine Coronavirus? Canine coronavirus —which is different to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19—causes gastrointestinal illness in dogs. Although rare, human canine coronavirus infections have been reported by hospitals in Southeast Asia, where it manifests in the form of pneumonia, an inflammation of the air sacs of the lungs that causes cough, fever and difficulty breathing. In 2017, researchers isolated a strain of canine coronavirus—which they gave the snappy name of HuCCoV_Z19Haiti—from a medical researcher who had traveled from the U.S. to Haiti and later suffered a mild fever and malaise. Four years later, scientists at the University of Texas discovered a distinct, yet similar strain of canine coronavirus—this time dubbed CCoV-HuPn-2018—that had been isolated from a child admitted to a hospital in Malaysia. Since 2021, CCoV-HuPn-2018 has been detected in patients with respiratory illness living in Thailand, Vietnam and the U.S. state of Arkansas, suggesting that this strain is already circulating around the globe. To mitigate the risk of future pandemics posed by the potential for influenza D and canine coronavirus to evolve efficient human-to-human transmissibility, preparation is needed. The researchers are calling for increased virus monitoring; more reliable tests; and the development of new treatments and vaccines. “So far, influenza D virus has not been associated with serious infections in humans,“ said Lednicky. “However, canine coronavirus has—but diagnostic tests are not routinely performed for the virus, so the extent at which the virus affects the population at large is not known.“ Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about viruses? Let us know via health@newsweek.com. References Gray, G. C., Vlasova, A. N., Lednicky, J. A., Nguyen-Tien, T., Shittu, I., & Li, F. . Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats from Influenza D and Canine Coronavirus HuPn-2018. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 32. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3201.251764. Lednicky, J. A., Tagliamonte, M. S., White, S. K., Blohm, G. M., Alam, M. M., Iovine, N. M., Salemi, M., Mavian, C., & Morris, J. G., Jr. . Isolation of a Novel Recombinant Canine Coronavirus From a Visitor to Haiti: Further Evidence of Transmission of Coronaviruses of Zoonotic Origin to Humans. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 75. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab924 Liu, R., Sheng, Z., Huang, C., Wang, D., & Li, F. . Influenza D virus. Current Opinion in Virology, Preventive and Therapeutic Vaccines Viral Immunology, 44, 154—161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2020.08.004 Vlasova, A. N., Diaz, A., Damtie, D., Xiu, L., Toh, T.-H., Lee, J. S.-Y., Saif, L. J., & Gray, G. C. . Novel Canine Coronavirus Isolated from a Hospitalized Patient With Pneumonia in East Malaysia. Clinical Infectious Diseases, 74, 446—454. https://doi.org/10.1093/cid/ciab456 White, S. K., Ma, W., McDaniel, C. J., Gray, G. C., & Lednicky, J. A. . Serologic evidence of exposure to influenza D virus among persons with occupational contact with cattle. Journal of Clinical Virology, 81, 31—33. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcv.2016.05.017
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