The risk of SARS-2 establishing itself in animal reservoirs

目前的SARS-2大流行主要是由人与人之间的传播驱动的，但它的起源始于野生动物，病毒显示出反复从人类传播到其他动物物种的倾向。在欧洲养殖水貂中建立动物间传播的感染强调了该病毒完全能够在新的动物宿主中建立自己。如果它建立的物种是野生动物，而不是容易扑杀的家养动物，这会给人类带来永久性的再感染风险，使尽量减少COVID-19影响的努力变得非常复杂印度南部是人畜共患病溢出的主要热点，人口稠密，热带气候，物种多样性和动物种群密度高。人类与野生动物之间的相互作用和病原体的共享存在着充分的机会。该项目将集中于确定SARS-2是否溢出到印度喀拉拉邦的野生动物种群中。该项目将使用已建立的泛冠状病毒PCR和深度测序方法，成功地识别野生动物中的冠状病毒，以确定该地区的动物是否从人群中感染SARS-2，以及是否正在建立独立的循环。此外，该项目还将确定目前存在的任何其他冠状病毒，填补为下一次大流行做准备的关键知识空白。喀拉拉邦存在的野生动物种类繁多，这意味着对所有物种进行采样是不可行的，本项目将重点关注已知有SARS-2感染倾向的群体（蝙蝠和小型食肉动物）、可能自然携带SARS样病毒（sarbecovirus属）的群体以及与人类密切接触的群体

The current SARS-2 pandemic is primarily driven by human to human spread, yet its origins began in wildlife and the virus displays a propensity for repeated spill over from humans to other animal species. The establishment of infection spreading from animal to animal in farmed mink in Europe has highlighted that the virus is quite capable of establishing itself in new animal reservoirs. Should the species it establishes in be a wild animal rather than an easily culled domestic one this creates a permanent re-infection risk for the human population, greatly complicating efforts to minimise COVID-19s impact Southern India is a prime hotspot for zoonotic spillovers with a dense human population and a tropical climate with high species diversity and density in the animal population. Ample opportunity exists for human/wildlife interactions and the sharing of pathogens. This project will focus on identifying whether SARS-2 spill over is occurring into the wild animal population in the Indian State of Kerala. The project will use established pan-coronavirus PCR and deep sequencing methods used successfully to identify coronaviruses in wild animals to determine whether animals in this location are contracting SARS-2 from the human population and whether it is establishing independent circulation. This project will in addition identify any other coronaviruses present filling a crucial knowledge gap in preparation for the next pandemic. The sheer variety of wildlife present in Kerala means that it is not feasible to sample all species, this project will focus on those groups (bats and small carnivores) with a known propensity for SARS-2 infection , those likely to carry SARs like viruses (the sarbecovirus genus) naturally and those in close contact with the human population