Animals ‘at risk from coronavirus’

Dozens of animals may be vulnerable to Sars-cov-2 – the virus that causes Covid-19 – a study has suggested.

Researchers believe 26 animals, including pigs, horses and rabbits regularly in contact with people, may be susceptible to infection.

University College London scientists investigated how the virus’s spike protein interacts with the protein it attaches to when it infects people and considered whether differences in the protein of 215 different animals made them less likely to be infected.

The study, published in Scientific Reports, suggested that in some animals, such as sheep and great apes, the proteins would bind as strongly as they do when the virus infects people.

While some of the animals have not yet been studied with infection tests, the study found that most birds, fish and reptiles did not appear to be at risk, while the majority of mammals reviewed could potentially be infected.