Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in Antarctic wildlife
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This pathogen has spread rapidly across the world, causing high numbers of deaths and significant social and economic impacts. SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus with a sugg...
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ftfederationuniv:vital:14922 2023-05-15T13:45:33+02:00 Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in Antarctic wildlife Barbosa, Andres Varsani, Arvind Morandini, Virginia Grimaldi, Wray Vanstreels, Ralph Diaz, Julia Boulinier, Thierry Dewar, Meagan González-Acuña, Daniel Gray, Rachael McMahon, Clive Miller, Gary Power, Michelle Gamble, Amandine Wille, Michelle 2021 http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/175209 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143352 unknown Elsevier B.V. Science of the Total Environment Vol. 755, no. 2 (2021), p. 1-8 http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/175209 vital:14922 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143352 ISBN:0048-9697 All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Published version. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Open Access CC0 CC-BY-NC-ND MD Multidisciplinary Antarctica Coronavirus COVID-19 Mitigation measures Reverse zoonoses Transmission Text Journal article 2021 ftfederationuniv https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143352 2022-12-01T19:11:41Z The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This pathogen has spread rapidly across the world, causing high numbers of deaths and significant social and economic impacts. SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus with a suggested zoonotic origin with the potential for cross-species transmission among animals. Antarctica can be considered the only continent free of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, concerns have been expressed regarding the potential human introduction of this virus to the continent through the activities of research or tourism to minimise the effects on human health, and the potential for virus transmission to Antarctic wildlife. We assess the reverse-zoonotic transmission risk to Antarctic wildlife by considering the available information on host susceptibility, dynamics of the infection in humans, and contact interactions between humans and Antarctic wildlife. The environmental conditions in Antarctica seem to be favourable for the virus stability. Indoor spaces such as those at research stations, research vessels or tourist cruise ships could allow for more transmission among humans and depending on their movements between different locations the virus could be spread across the continent. Among Antarctic wildlife previous in silico analyses suggested that cetaceans are at greater risk of infection whereas seals and birds appear to be at a low infection risk. However, caution needed until further research is carried out and consequently, the precautionary principle should be applied. Field researchers handling animals are identified as the human group posing the highest risk of transmission to animals while tourists and other personnel pose a significant risk only when in close proximity (< 5 m) to Antarctic fauna. We highlight measures to reduce the risk as well as identify of knowledge gaps related to this issue. © 2020 The Authors Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica Federation University Australia: Federation ResearchOnline Antarctic Science of The Total Environment 755 143352 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Federation University Australia: Federation ResearchOnline |
op_collection_id |
ftfederationuniv |
language |
unknown |
topic |
MD Multidisciplinary Antarctica Coronavirus COVID-19 Mitigation measures Reverse zoonoses Transmission |
spellingShingle |
MD Multidisciplinary Antarctica Coronavirus COVID-19 Mitigation measures Reverse zoonoses Transmission Barbosa, Andres Varsani, Arvind Morandini, Virginia Grimaldi, Wray Vanstreels, Ralph Diaz, Julia Boulinier, Thierry Dewar, Meagan González-Acuña, Daniel Gray, Rachael McMahon, Clive Miller, Gary Power, Michelle Gamble, Amandine Wille, Michelle Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in Antarctic wildlife |
topic_facet |
MD Multidisciplinary Antarctica Coronavirus COVID-19 Mitigation measures Reverse zoonoses Transmission |
description |
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). This pathogen has spread rapidly across the world, causing high numbers of deaths and significant social and economic impacts. SARS-CoV-2 is a novel coronavirus with a suggested zoonotic origin with the potential for cross-species transmission among animals. Antarctica can be considered the only continent free of SARS-CoV-2. Therefore, concerns have been expressed regarding the potential human introduction of this virus to the continent through the activities of research or tourism to minimise the effects on human health, and the potential for virus transmission to Antarctic wildlife. We assess the reverse-zoonotic transmission risk to Antarctic wildlife by considering the available information on host susceptibility, dynamics of the infection in humans, and contact interactions between humans and Antarctic wildlife. The environmental conditions in Antarctica seem to be favourable for the virus stability. Indoor spaces such as those at research stations, research vessels or tourist cruise ships could allow for more transmission among humans and depending on their movements between different locations the virus could be spread across the continent. Among Antarctic wildlife previous in silico analyses suggested that cetaceans are at greater risk of infection whereas seals and birds appear to be at a low infection risk. However, caution needed until further research is carried out and consequently, the precautionary principle should be applied. Field researchers handling animals are identified as the human group posing the highest risk of transmission to animals while tourists and other personnel pose a significant risk only when in close proximity (< 5 m) to Antarctic fauna. We highlight measures to reduce the risk as well as identify of knowledge gaps related to this issue. © 2020 The Authors |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Barbosa, Andres Varsani, Arvind Morandini, Virginia Grimaldi, Wray Vanstreels, Ralph Diaz, Julia Boulinier, Thierry Dewar, Meagan González-Acuña, Daniel Gray, Rachael McMahon, Clive Miller, Gary Power, Michelle Gamble, Amandine Wille, Michelle |
author_facet |
Barbosa, Andres Varsani, Arvind Morandini, Virginia Grimaldi, Wray Vanstreels, Ralph Diaz, Julia Boulinier, Thierry Dewar, Meagan González-Acuña, Daniel Gray, Rachael McMahon, Clive Miller, Gary Power, Michelle Gamble, Amandine Wille, Michelle |
author_sort |
Barbosa, Andres |
title |
Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in Antarctic wildlife |
title_short |
Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in Antarctic wildlife |
title_full |
Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in Antarctic wildlife |
title_fullStr |
Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in Antarctic wildlife |
title_full_unstemmed |
Risk assessment of SARS-CoV-2 in Antarctic wildlife |
title_sort |
risk assessment of sars-cov-2 in antarctic wildlife |
publisher |
Elsevier B.V. |
publishDate |
2021 |
url |
http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/175209 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143352 |
geographic |
Antarctic |
geographic_facet |
Antarctic |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic Antarctica |
op_relation |
Science of the Total Environment Vol. 755, no. 2 (2021), p. 1-8 http://researchonline.federation.edu.au/vital/access/HandleResolver/1959.17/175209 vital:14922 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143352 ISBN:0048-9697 |
op_rights |
All metadata describing materials held in, or linked to, the repository is freely available under a CC0 licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. Published version. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Open Access |
op_rightsnorm |
CC0 CC-BY-NC-ND |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.143352 |
container_title |
Science of The Total Environment |
container_volume |
755 |
container_start_page |
143352 |
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1766227305593569280 |