Swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) is a coronavirus related to '' Rhinolophus bat coronavirus HKU2''. It is transmitted through the feces of

horseshoe bat Horseshoe bats are bats in the family Rhinolophidae. In addition to the single living genus, ''Rhinolophus'', which has about 106 species, the extinct genus '' Palaeonycteris'' has been recognized. Horseshoe bats are closely related to the Old ...

s to

pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus ...

s. Piglets less than 5 days old die with a probability of up to 90%. The first outbreak appeared in 2017, where it caused the death of more than 24,000 piglets on 4 farms. In 2018 and 2019, the virus re-emerged in China, but there were not large-scale losses. This weak re-emergence is curious, and is reminiscent of how SARS emerged in 2003 and then disappeared. During ''

in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called " test-tube experiments", these studies in biology ...

'' testing, human and monkey cell lines exposed to SADS-CoV became infected, suggesting that SADS-CoV may pose a risk to human health. The SADS-CoV sampled from one of the first infected pig farms was found to be 95% genetically identical to one collected from

horseshoe bats A horseshoe is a fabricated product designed to protect a horse hoof from wear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface (ground side) of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall that is anatomically akin to the human toe ...

(''Rhinolophus''), "indicating the bat origin of the pig virus".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q55643348 Alphacoronaviruses Unaccepted virus taxa