''Hedgehog coronavirus 1'' is a mammalian Group C '' Betacoronavirus'', a positive-sense

RNA virus An RNA virus is a virusother than a retrovirusthat has ribonucleic acid ( RNA) as its genetic material. The nucleic acid is usually single-stranded RNA (ssRNA) but it may be double-stranded (dsRNA). Notable human diseases caused by RNA virus ...

, discovered in

European hedgehog The European hedgehog (''Erinaceus europaeus''), also known as the West European hedgehog or common hedgehog, is a hedgehog species native to Europe from Iberia and Italy northwards into Scandinavia and westwards into the British Isles.Harris, S ...

s (''Erinaceus europaeus'') from Germany and first described in 2014. Most ''Betacoronavirus'' clade c viruses are known from bats. The hedgehog is in the animal order

Eulipotyphla Eulipotyphla (, which means "truly fat and blind") is an order of mammals suggested by molecular methods of phylogenetic reconstruction, which includes the laurasiatherian members of the now-invalid polyphyletic order Lipotyphla, but not the ...

, which is phylogenetically related to the bats, Chiroptera, so the researchers investigated faecal samples to look for coronaviruses. The virus was found in the highest concentrations in the lower

gastrointestinal tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q24808940 Merbecovirus Animal viral diseases Hedgehog diseases

See also

References