Application of a novel mathematical model to identify intermediate hosts of SARS-CoV-2.

ABSTRACT: Intermediate host species provide a crucial link in the emergence of zoonotic infectious diseases, serving as a population where an emerging pathogen can mutate to become human-transmissible. Identifying such species is thus a key component of predicting and possibly mitigating future epidemics. Despite this importance, intermediate host species have not been investigated in much detail, and have generally only been identified by testing for the presence of pathogens in multiple candidate species. In this paper, we present a mathematical model able to identify likely intermediate host species for emerging zoonoses based on ecological data for the candidates and epidemiological data for the pathogen. Since coronaviruses frequently emerge through intermediate host species and, at the time of

SUBMITTER: Royce K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8142741 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature