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Variation in predicted COVID-19 risk among lemurs and lorises.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Melin, AD; Orkin, JD; Janiak, MC; Valenzuela, A; Kuderna, L; Marrone, F; Ramangason, H; Horvath, JE; Roos, C; Kitchener, AC; Khor, CC; Lim, WK ...
Published in: Am J Primatol
June 2021

The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which in humans leads to the disease COVID-19, has caused global disruption and more than 2 million fatalities since it first emerged in late 2019. As we write, infection rates are at their highest point globally and are rising extremely rapidly in some areas due to more infectious variants. The primary target of SARS-CoV-2 is the cellular receptor angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE2). Recent sequence analyses of the ACE2 gene predict that many nonhuman primates are also likely to be highly susceptible to infection. However, the anticipated risk is not equal across the Order. Furthermore, some taxonomic groups show high ACE2 amino acid conservation, while others exhibit high variability at this locus. As an example of the latter, analyses of strepsirrhine primate ACE2 sequences to date indicate large variation among lemurs and lorises compared to other primate clades despite low sampling effort. Here, we report ACE2 gene and protein sequences for 71 individual strepsirrhines, spanning 51 species and 19 genera. Our study reinforces previous results while finding additional variability in other strepsirrhine species, and suggests several clades of lemurs have high potential susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Troublingly, some species, including the rare and endangered aye-aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis), as well as those in the genera Avahi and Propithecus, may be at high risk. Given that lemurs are endemic to Madagascar and among the primates at highest risk of extinction globally, further understanding of the potential threat of COVID-19 to their health should be a conservation priority. All feasible actions should be taken to limit their exposure to SARS-CoV-2.

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Published In

Am J Primatol

DOI

EISSN

1098-2345

Publication Date

June 2021

Volume

83

Issue

6

Start / End Page

e23255

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Risk Factors
  • Primate Diseases
  • Lorisidae
  • Lemur
  • COVID-19
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Animals
  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 1601 Anthropology
 

Citation

APA
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Melin, A. D., Orkin, J. D., Janiak, M. C., Valenzuela, A., Kuderna, L., Marrone, F., … Higham, J. P. (2021). Variation in predicted COVID-19 risk among lemurs and lorises. Am J Primatol, 83(6), e23255. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23255
Melin, Amanda D., Joseph D. Orkin, Mareike C. Janiak, Alejandro Valenzuela, Lukas Kuderna, Frank Marrone, Hasinala Ramangason, et al. “Variation in predicted COVID-19 risk among lemurs and lorises.Am J Primatol 83, no. 6 (June 2021): e23255. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23255.
Melin AD, Orkin JD, Janiak MC, Valenzuela A, Kuderna L, Marrone F, et al. Variation in predicted COVID-19 risk among lemurs and lorises. Am J Primatol. 2021 Jun;83(6):e23255.
Melin, Amanda D., et al. “Variation in predicted COVID-19 risk among lemurs and lorises.Am J Primatol, vol. 83, no. 6, June 2021, p. e23255. Pubmed, doi:10.1002/ajp.23255.
Melin AD, Orkin JD, Janiak MC, Valenzuela A, Kuderna L, Marrone F, Ramangason H, Horvath JE, Roos C, Kitchener AC, Khor CC, Lim WK, Lee JGH, Tan P, Umapathy G, Raveendran M, Alan Harris R, Gut I, Gut M, Lizano E, Nadler T, Zinner D, Le MD, Manu S, Rabarivola CJ, Zaramody A, Andriaholinirina N, Johnson SE, Jarvis ED, Fedrigo O, Wu D, Zhang G, Farh KK-H, Rogers J, Marques-Bonet T, Navarro A, Juan D, Arora PS, Higham JP. Variation in predicted COVID-19 risk among lemurs and lorises. Am J Primatol. 2021 Jun;83(6):e23255.
Journal cover image

Published In

Am J Primatol

DOI

EISSN

1098-2345

Publication Date

June 2021

Volume

83

Issue

6

Start / End Page

e23255

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Risk Factors
  • Primate Diseases
  • Lorisidae
  • Lemur
  • COVID-19
  • Behavioral Science & Comparative Psychology
  • Animals
  • Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2
  • 3109 Zoology
  • 1601 Anthropology