New coronavirus spreads among rodents in Sweden

While humanity is not yet done with the Covid-19 pandemic, a new coronavirus has already appeared in Sweden and it is spreading in a rather worrying way among rodents. The question now is whether this new coronavirus poses a danger to humans.

Rodents, dangerous reservoirs of viruses

If the Covid-19 pandemic has been a little more discreet lately, vigilance remains essential, not only for SARS-CoV-2, but also for other viruses potentially dangerous for humanity. And scientists at Uppsala University have just found a new coronavirus in rodents in Sweden. You should know that there are many types of coronavirus circulating in animals, including bats, pangolins and, as in this case, in many species of rodents.

In the majority of cases, these coronaviruses are not transmitted to humans. Be that as it may, the risks of overflow are not to be taken lightly. Additionally, most of the seasonal coronaviruses that infect humans — like HCoV-OC43 and HCoV-HKU1 — appear to have spread to humans from rodents like rats, mice, and voles. In other words, rodents can be particularly dangerous reservoirs of coronaviruses.

A virus that surfaced long before Covid-19

Named Grimsö virus – in reference to Grimsö, the place west of Stockholm where the infected animals were found – this new coronavirus has been detected in bank voles, rodents very common in Europe. In other words, they are animals that often cross paths with humans. For this reason, the viruses they harbor can potentially be dangerous to humans. Additionally, the researchers found that the Grimsö virus has a highly divergent nature that allows it to easily adapt to new hosts and habitats.

However, there is currently no indication that it can be transmitted to humans. ” We still do not know what potential threats the Grimsö virus may pose to public health. However, based on our observations and previous coronaviruses identified among bank voles, there is good reason to continue to monitor coronavirus among wild rodents. “, said the professor Ake Lundkvistlead author of the study, in a statement.

Note that even if the Grimsö virus is designated as a new coronavirus, the first screenings carried out by Swedish researchers date from 2015 and 2017. On the other hand, the study describing the virus was only published very recently in the journal Viruses. As part of this study, researchers examined 450 bank voles to map zoonotic viruses with the aim of improving understanding of the interaction between viruses and host animals. During their study, the researchers found that 3.4% of the sample carried the Grimsö virus, which means that this virus is widely distributed among these rodents.