Influence of COVID-19 on the sustainability of livestock performance and welfare on a global scale.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), is currently spreading worldwide. The pandemic has already had significant adverse effects on human civilization, the environment, and the ecosystem at national and global levels. Moreover, the various sectors of the food production chain, particularly agriculture and livestock, have also been significantly affected in terms of production sustainability and economic losses. The global pandemic has already resulted in a sharp drop in meat, milk, and egg production. Restrictions of movement at national and international levels, implemented as a part of control strategies by public health sectors, have negatively impacted business related to the supply of raw materials for livestock farmers and farm outputs, veterinary services, farmworkers, and animal welfare. This review highlights the significant impacts of COVID-19 on the sustainability of livestock performance, welfare on a global scale, and strategies for mitigating these adverse effects.

Poultry Production and Sustainability in Developing Countries under the COVID-19 Crisis: Lessons Learned.

Poultry farming is a significant source of revenue generation for small farmers in developing countries. It plays a vital role in fulfilling the daily protein requirements of humans through meat and eggs consumption. The recently emerged pandemic Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) impacts the poultry production sector. Although the whole world is affected, these impacts may be more severe in developing countries due to their dependency on exporting necessary supplies such as feed, vaccines, drugs, and utensils. In this review, we have discussed poultry production in developing countries under the COVID-19 crisis and measures to regain the loss in the poultry industries. Generally, due to the lockdown, trade limitations have negatively impacted poultry industries, which might exacerbate global poverty. Coordinated activities have to be taken at the private and government levels to arrange soft loans so that these farms can restore their production and marketing to normal levels. In addition, here, we have focused on the supply of farm input, feed, other raw materials, management system, improved breeding efficiency, veterinary services, and marketing of egg and meat, which have to be ensured to secure a sustainable poultry production chain.

Diversity of Coronaviruses with Particular Attention to the Interspecies Transmission of SARS-CoV-2.

In December 2019, the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was reported in China with serious impacts on global health and economy that is still ongoing. Although interspecies transmission of coronaviruses is common and well documented, each coronavirus has a narrowly restricted host range. Coronaviruses utilize different receptors to mediate membrane fusion and replication in the cell cytoplasm. The interplay between the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of coronaviruses and their coevolution are determinants for host susceptibility. The recently emerged SARS-CoV-2 caused the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and has also been reported in domestic and wild animals, raising the question about the responsibility of animals in virus evolution. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic might also substantially have an impact on animal production for a long time. In the present review, we discussed the diversity of coronaviruses in animals and thus the diversity of their receptors. Moreover, the determinants of the susceptibility of SARS-CoV-2 in several animals, with special reference to the current evidence of SARS-CoV-2 in animals, were highlighted. Finally, we shed light on the urgent demand for the implementation of the One Health concept as a collaborative global approach to mitigate the threat for both humans and animals.

Evolutionary insights into the furin cleavage sites of SARS-CoV-2 variants from humans and animals.

The SARS-CoV-2 spike protein Q677P/H mutation and furin cleavage site (FCS) have been shown to affect cell tropism and virus transmissibility. Here, we analyzed the frequency of Q677P/H and FCS point mutations in 1,144,793 human and 1042 animal spike protein sequences and from those of the emergent variants B.1.1.7, B.1.351, P.1, B.1.429 + B.1.427, and B.1.525, which were deposited in the database of the GISAID Initiative. Different genetic polymorphisms, particularly P681H and A688V, were detected in the FCS, mainly in human isolates, and otherwise, only pangolin and bat sequences had these mutations. Multiple FCS amino acid deletions such as Δ680SPRRA684 and Δ685RSVA688 were only detected in eight and four human isolates, respectively. Surprisingly, deletion of the entire FCS motif as Δ680SPRRARSVA688 and Δ680SPRRARSVAS689 was detected only in three human isolates. On the other hand, analysis of FCS from emergent variants showed no deletions in the FCS except for spike P681del, which was detected in seven B.1.1.7 isolates from the USA. Spike Q677P was detected only once in variant, B.1.1.7, whereas Q677H was detected in all variants, i.e., B.1.1.7 (n = 1938), B.1.351 (n = 28), P.1 (n = 9), B.1.429 + B.1.427 (n = 132), and B.1.525 (n = 1584). Structural modeling predicted that mutations or deletions at or near the FCS significantly alter the cleavage loop structure and would presumably affect furin binding. Taken together, our results show that Q677H and FCS point mutations are prevalent and may have various biological effects on the circulating variants. Therefore, we recommend urgent monitoring and surveillance of the investigated mutations, as well as laboratory assessment of their pathogenicity and transmissibility.

Mutational spectra of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from animals.

Coronaviruses are ubiquitous and infect a wide spectrum of animals and humans. The newly emerged severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a worldwide pandemic. To address the role that animals may play in the evolution of SARS-CoV-2, the full genome sequences of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from animals were compared with SARS-CoV-2 human isolates from the same clade and geographic region. Phylogenetic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 isolated from the cat, dog, mink, mouse, and tiger revealed a close relationship with SARS-CoV-2 human isolates from the same clade and geographic region with sequence identities of 99.94-99.99%. The deduced amino acid sequence of spike (S) protein revealed the presence of a furin cleavage site (682RRAR▾685), which did not differ among all SARS-CoV-2 isolates from animals and humans. SARS-CoV-2 isolates from minks exhibited two amino acid substitutions (G261D, A262S) in the N-terminal domain of S protein and four (L452M, Y453F, F486L, N501T) in the receptor-binding motif (RBM). In the mouse, the S protein had two amino acid substitutions, one in the RBM (Q498H) and the other (N969S) in the heptad repeat 1. SARS-CoV-2 isolated from minks furtherly exhibited three unique amino acid substitutions in the nucleocapsid (N)protein. In the cat, two unique amino acid substitutions were discovered in the N (T247I) and matrix (T175M) proteins. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2 isolated from minks possessed sixteen, four, and two unique amino acid substitutions in the open reading frame 1ab (ORF1ab), ORF3a, and ORF6, respectively. Dog and cat SARS-CoV-2 isolates showed one and seven unique amino acid substitutions in ORF1ab, respectively. Further studies may be necessary to determine the pathogenic significance of these amino acid substitutions to understand the molecular epidemiology and evolution of SARS-CoV-2.