On Thursday, scientists unveiled new information on the doable origins of the Covid-19 pandemic — and put an odd, squat creature squarely within the highlight.
Meet the raccoon canine; it earns its title from its black facial markings, which give the animal a masked look and a more-than-passing resemblance to these notorious raiders of city trash cans.
The animals have been not less than sometimes offered on the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, the place many virologists suspect that the Covid-19 pandemic could have began.
Scientists had beforehand introduced that swabs from the market had examined optimistic for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19. The brand new information revealed that a few of these identical swabs additionally contained substantial genetic materials from raccoon canines.
The findings didn’t show that raccoon canines have been contaminated with the virus or that they’d handed it on to people. However they’re per the chance that wild animals on the market could have set off the Covid-19 pandemic.
Extra on the Coronavirus Pandemic
- Covid Origins: The W.H.O. rebuked China for withholding analysis which will hyperlink the origin of Covid to wild animals, asking why the information was faraway from a scientific database. Earlier than the information went lacking, a global crew of specialists who started analyzing it discovered that it supported the thought that the pandemic may have begun with illegally offered raccoon canines at a Wuhan market.
- Maternal Mortality: Authorities information exhibits that demise of pregnant girls in 2021 elevated by 40% in contrast with 2020 and by 60% in contrast with 2019. Covid was a contributing issue within the rise, a separate report suggests.
- Paxlovid: A panel of professional advisers to the F.D.A. endorsed Paxlovid as a remedy for adults with Covid who’re at excessive threat for extreme sickness. The transfer is more likely to result in full approval of the drug, which has been out there beneath emergency use authorization.
Right here’s what to know concerning the animal within the information.
What are raccoon canines?
Regardless of their title, raccoon canines usually are not shut kinfolk of raccoons. They’re members of the canid household, a gaggle that additionally consists of home canines, and are most carefully associated to foxes. In contrast to different canids, they could hibernate in winter.
Raccoon canines are omnivores, eating on meals sources like rodents and berries. Though they seem svelte in the summertime, they pack on the kilos for winter, when their fur additionally turns into thicker. They’re monogamous, usually dwelling in pairs.
The place do they stay?
Raccoon canines are native to East Asia, together with components of China, Korea and Japan, the place they’re generally known as tanuki.
They’ve additionally change into widespread in components of Europe, the place they’re thought of an invasive species. They’re typically hunted as pests.
Why are they farmed and offered?
Raccoon canines have lengthy been farmed for his or her fur. China is a number one producer of raccoon canine pelts; in 2014, the nation produced greater than 14 million pelts, 100 occasions as many as Europe, in line with one report.
They’re additionally offered for his or her meat in stay animal markets. They have been offered on the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market not less than as late as November 2019, researchers have reported.
Are they the supply of the virus that causes Covid-19?
Not essentially. Laboratory experiments have proven that raccoon canines are vulnerable to, and able to transmitting, the novel coronavirus. However that doesn’t imply that they’re the pure reservoir for the virus. Even when raccoon canines on the market have been contaminated, they may have been an intermediate host, selecting up the virus from bats or one other species.
Raccoon canines and bats have been each frequent on and round among the farms that equipped the market, scientists have famous.
An identical state of affairs could have unfolded twenty years in the past, after the emergence of SARS, which can also be attributable to a coronavirus. In 2003, scientists discovered proof of contaminated palm civets and raccoon canines at a stay animal market in Shenzen, China. However subsequent analysis in the end pointed to bats because the pure reservoir for the virus that causes SARS; raccoon canines gave the impression to be intermediate hosts.
Can I pet a raccoon canine if I see one?
It’s in all probability not a good suggestion, as tempting because it could be. Covid-19 apart, the animals are identified to be vectors for different ailments, together with rabies. The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals recommends towards conserving raccoon canines as pets.
