FunNature & AnimalThe pangolin could cause the next pandemic

The pangolin could cause the next pandemic

Every year, on the third Saturday of February, World Pangolin Day is celebrated, with the aim of raising awareness about the difficult situation it suffers. A situation with two causes. On the one hand, illegal hunting , either due to the demand for meat for consumption, or that of their fetuses and scales as a presumed curative remedy. On the other hand, the destruction of its habitat and its fragmentation , caused by deforestation, either to expand industry, crops or livestock.

The pangolin plays an essential role in the ecosystem to which it belongs. It feeds on termites, and consumes up to 10% of its weight every day , each specimen covering up to 16 hectares of forest.

There are eight species of pangolin in the world, four in Asia and another four in Africa. Of the Asian ones, three are “ critically endangered ”, according to the IUCN Red List, and the other, as well as two of the African ones, are listed as “ endangered ”. The other two are considered “ vulnerable ”.

The pseudotherapy that exterminates species

The body of the pangolin is covered by a heavy armor of solid scales that can represent up to a fifth of its weight. Despite the fact that the composition of these scales is basically keratin –like our hair and our nails–, in some branches of traditional medicine in China, Vietnam, Central and West Africa they are considered a medicinal remedy , similar to what happens with the rhinoceros horn. In some cultures, fetuses are also believed to be a medicinal remedy. As with most pseudotherapies , these products are attributed healing properties of the most diverse, from heart disease to cancer of all kinds.

Pangolin meat is another product in great demand in Southeast Asia. Given its scarcity, since its trade is illegal, the pangolin commands a very high price , and consumers perceive it as a luxury product, a delicacy that they exhibit as a marker of social status . Hence, despite the fact that all pangolin species are protected by the CITES convention, illegal international trade continues .

The pangolin, carrier of diseases

Like all animals, pangolins have their own diseases, something that had not been studied much before 2020. That panorama changed, since since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic , one of the main candidates to be the original vector of SARS-CoV-2 was the pangolin . And it is that, in effect, these animals are carriers of several species of coronavirus .

This event prompted further study of pangolin viral diseases. Several new virus species have been identified , belonging to the anelovirus , circovirus , genomovirus , and picornavirus families. However, among the different pathogens found , a new retrovirus stands out , identified in the lungs of pangolins, which, according to research, could be transmitted between species. What we do not know is if the human being could be one of those receiving species .

Zoonoses: from animals to humans

Most of the emerging diseases that cause epidemics and, eventually, pandemics, are zoonoses , that is, diseases whose pathogenic agent passes to humans from another animal . The 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic jumped to humans from pigs. The H5N1 flu that threatened to become a pandemic in 2003 came from birds. SARS in 2002 came from bats, and HIV has its origin in apes . Our history is partly carved by zoonoses. It would not be surprising, therefore, if the next pandemic is also zoonotic.

Scientific studies identify two main factors that improve the conditions necessary for infectious diseases to cross the species barrier from wild animals to humans . On the one hand, the encroachment of human activities into wilderness areas and forests and the consequent ecological disruptions, and on the other, the commodification of wild animals . In the specific case of the pangolin, both criteria are met.

It is ironic that the consumption of a pseudotherapeutic product with alleged medicinal properties that it does not actually have could be the cause of the next pandemic .

 

REFERENCES
Cheng, V. C. C., Lau, S. K. P., et al. 2007. Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus as an Agent of Emerging and Reemerging Infection. Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 20(4), 660-694. DOI: 10.1128/CMR.00023-07
Ning, S., Dai, Z., et al. 2022. Novel putative pathogenic viruses identified in pangolins by mining metagenomic data. Journal of Medical Virology, jmv.27564. DOI: 10.1002/jmv.27564
Volpato, G., Fontefrancesco, M. F., et al. 2020. Baby pangolins on my plate: possible lessons to learn from the COVID-19 pandemic. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine, 16(1), 19. DOI: 10.1186/s13002-020-00366-4
Zhang, F., Wu, S., et al. 2022. The past, present and future of the pangolin in Mainland China. Global Ecology and Conservation, 33, e01995. DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01995

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