A growing number of scientists think that Omicron picked up many of its mutations by crossing over to a convenient animal host and back again.

[www.biorxiv.org]

The rapid accumulation of mutations in the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant that enabled its outbreak raises questions as to whether its proximal origin occurred in humans or another mammalian host. Here, we identified 45 point mutations that Omicron acquired since divergence from the B.1.1 lineage. We found that the Omicron spike protein sequence was subjected to stronger positive selection than that of any reported SARS-CoV-2 variants known to evolve persistently in human hosts, suggesting the possibility of host-jumping. The molecular spectrum (i.e., the relative frequency of the twelve types of base substitutions) of mutations acquired by the progenitor of Omicron was significantly different from the spectrum for viruses that evolved in human patients, but was highly consistent with spectra associated with evolution in a mouse cellular environment...

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Another reason to hate meeces to pieces!

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It is what it is.

Seems covid 19 is all over the animal kingdom.

How's that research going into how the virus first entered the human population?

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Lemon Drop
Seems covid 19 is all over the animal kingdom.

How's that research going into how the virus first entered the human population?

Reasonably certain now that it came from bats. A couple of teams claim to have found viruses in Asian bat populations similar enough to be the primogenitor, but not definitively. Lots of bats carry similar SARS viruses. Latest from Laos.
[www.nature.com]

There's some question about whether the first cases were really around the Huanan market in Wuhan. There's evidence for at least two other wet markets being the locus.

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I found the NIPAH virus interesting. In hindsight it’s simple: Don’t hang a pail collecting date palm juice if the tree has fruit bats. Of course, fruit bats are attracted to the juice, so that might mean doing without a cultural nicety.

What was the other one, where pigs rooted under trees? The pigs were dying and so were the farmers.

OMG I just figured it out. Kill all trees.

If squirrels are ever found to be carriers, I am doomed.

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

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rgG
If squirrels are ever found to be carriers, I am doomed.

But plague is okay?

[www.cdc.gov]

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Quote
Sarcany

Quote
rgG
If squirrels are ever found to be carriers, I am doomed.

But plague is okay?

[www.cdc.gov]

Yeah, I forgot about that. Lol

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

So I have to have the mice in my house vaccinated too? It's hard enough to catch them without hanging onto them for a shot.

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Don C
So I have to have the mice in my house vaccinated too? It's hard enough to catch them without hanging onto them for a shot.

It's catching them again for the second shot that's a real bitch. By that point, they're onto your BS.

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It is what it is.

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N-OS X-tasy!

Quote
Don C
So I have to have the mice in my house vaccinated too? It's hard enough to catch them without hanging onto them for a shot.

It's catching them again for the second shot that's a real bitch. By that point, they're onto your BS.

Might be a perfect use for the J&J

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Roswell, GA (Atlanta suburb)

I think it's very unlikely that it passed from human to mouse and back again ... much MORE likely that it picked up segments from either other coronaviruses or HIV... it did apparently originate in S. Africa, where it's been suggested that it developed its many mutations in an immunodeficient patient who had a persistent infection.

And while it's true that many species can get COVID-19 (the mink situation is especially sad), there's not very much evidence of it being passed from common animals to humans.

For awhile, I was concerned that any new hamsters I might get from a pet store, might have the possibility of carrying it... but no signs as yet, thank goodness.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

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PeterB
I think it's very unlikely that it passed from human to mouse and back again ...

It seems that it can pass back and forth, at least preliminarily. Works in vivo in the mice and in vitro with human tissues in dishes.

And then there's this:

[www.businessinsider.com]

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Quote
Sarcany

Quote
PeterB
I think it's very unlikely that it passed from human to mouse and back again ...

It seems that it can pass back and forth, at least preliminarily. Works in vivo in the mice and in vitro with human tissues in dishes.

And then there's this:

[www.businessinsider.com]

Right, but you'd think the chances of such exposure are pretty minimal, unless someone has routine, close, specialized contact with the animal (as for example, in the link you posted) or routinely works with the animals as part of their job (as for example, the mink farmers). Most mice are probably going to be sufficiently scared of human beings that they'd avoid contact with us; and if they're sick with the virus, are maybe even less likely to interact with a human being. Honestly, I think people are far more likely to pick up corona from unusual species (bat, pangolin, mink).

"SARS-CoV-2

The current COVID-19 pandemic was initially reported in Wuhan, China in 2019 (72, 73), although the origin of its pathogen, SARS-CoV-2, is still unclear. Its ancestor probably originated in bats, since SARS-CoV-2 is most closely related to the 2013 and 2019 isolates from horseshoe bats in Yunnan, China at the genome level, although not at the RBD level, suggesting neither might bind to human ACE2, and are thus not immediate ancestors of SARS-CoV-2 (72, 74, 75).

Conversely, isolates (pangolin-CoVs) from smuggled and diseased pangolins in Guangdong (2018–2019) are closely related to SARS-CoV-2 in the RBD region (76–80). Molecular binding simulations show that S proteins of SARS-CoV-2 and pangolin-CoVs can potentially recognize ACE2 in both humans and pangolins, suggesting possible pangolin-to-human spillover (76, 77). However, because pangolin-CoVs (including strains from Guangxi) are not the closest relatives to SARS-CoV-2 at the genome level, they are likely not direct ancestors of SARS-CoV-2 (76, 78, 79). Nevertheless, a 2019 pangolin-CoV isolate from Guangdong displayed high genome-wide similarity with both SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV-2's closest relative (from bats), suggesting SARS-CoV-2 may have originated from recombination among coronaviruses present in bats and other wildlife (76, 77, 79, 81).

Like SARS-CoV-1, SARS-CoV-2 infects species with high ACE2 homology. Cats, ferrets, golden hamsters, tree shrews, common marmosets, grivets, and cynomolgus and rhesus macaques have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 experimentally, shed the virus, and displayed similar or milder clinical and pathological signs as humans, although cats may not show signs of disease (82–91). Conversely, dogs have low susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, and show lack of clinical signs or dog-to-dog transmission, possibly due to their low levels of ACE2 in the respiratory tract (82, 91–93). Yet, cat-to-cat, ferret-to-ferret, hamster-to-hamster, and bat-to-bat transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have been confirmed experimentally (82, 90, 91, 94). However, mice, swine, and poultry are not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection (49, 71, 82).

Accumulating evidence supports naturally occurring human-to-cat SARS-CoV-2 transmission, such as multiple reports worldwide of SARS-CoV-2-positive cats from confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-2-positive owners (95). Natural human-to-dog transmission may be possible, as was confirmed by seroconversion and SARS-CoV-2 presence in two out of 15 dogs in close contact with COVID-19 patients, where the viral sequences from each dog-and-owner pair were identical (92). Serological and virological surveys, conducted several months after the pandemic started, indicate that SARS-CoV-2 prevalence is much lower in pet and street cats and dogs than in humans, even if pet owners had suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infection (96–100). Thus, cats and dogs can get infected under natural conditions, but rarely. However, certain environments might amplify natural infections and cross-species transmission. Human-to-mink, mink-to-mink, and mink-to-human transmission of SARS-CoV-2 have occurred on fur farms in several countries (95, 101–104). SARS-CoV-2 has also been transmitted to tigers, lions, and gorillas in zoos, raising concern for wildlife conservation (105).

Apart from the mink farm outbreaks, evidence so far suggests limited SARS-CoV-2 maintenance in domestic mammals or risk for secondary zoonoses (104). However, the panzootic potential of SARS-CoV-2 necessitates expanding veterinary surveillance (104, 106), especially if domestic and/or wild animals were to maintain SARS-CoV-2 as the human population undergoes vaccination, making COVID-19 control more difficult."

From here: [www.frontiersin.org]

... as I mentioned, it is of concern to me because of owning the hamsters, but only from the perspective of getting new animals, in which I've seen no evidence of the virus.

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Freya says, 'Hello from NOLA, baby!' (Laissez bon temps rouler!)

According to South Park, Randy Marsh had sex with a pangolin.

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“A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.” Seneca the Younger

The police have no duty to respond. See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) or Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

Judge Lee wrote that “we cannot jettison our constitutional rights, even if the goal behind a law is laudable." 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[www.youtube.com]

Quote
Racer X
According to South Park, Randy Marsh had sex with a pangolin.

That show is so friggin over the top. I love it.

They pledged maybe 4 years back to stop making fun of Trump, because nothing they could write was funnier than his real life.

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********************************************
“A sword never kills anybody; it is a tool in the killer's hand.” Seneca the Younger

The police have no duty to respond. See Castle Rock v. Gonzales, 545 U.S. 748 (2005) or Warren v. District of Columbia[1] (444 A.2d. 1, D.C. Ct. of Ap. 1981)

Judge Lee wrote that “we cannot jettison our constitutional rights, even if the goal behind a law is laudable." 9th Circuit Court of Appeals

[www.youtube.com]

It has also been a serious issue for TheOnion.

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In tha 360. MRF User Map