The threat of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 variants in animals

Abstract

Coronaviruses (CoVs) are enveloped, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses. These viruses have adapted to infect many animal species, from bats to camels (Munir et al. Citation2020). Currently, seven CoVs may infect humans, of which three of them have caused epidemics, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome type 1 (SARS-CoV-1), the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (Rabaan et al. Citation2020), which is currently causing the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic...