There’s no evidence the coronavirus jumped from pangolins to people
Pangolins can harbor coronaviruses related to the new coronavirus, a study finds. Scientists studied viruses in pangolins (Manis javanica) captured in anti-smuggling activities in southern China. The identified coronaviruses, however, are different enough from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to hint that pangolins were not directly responsible for transmitting the virus to people, which had been suggested. One of the pangolin viruses does have a structure that closely resembles the new coronavirus’ spike protein, which allows the pathogen to get into cells, infectious disease researcher Tommy Tsan-Yuk Lam of the School of Public Health at the University of Hong Kong and colleagues report March 26 in Nature. The closest relative of SARS-CoV-2 is still from a bat, the only other known mammal found to be infected with similar coronaviruses. See all our coverage of the 2019 novel coronavirus outbreak The new coronavirus’ similarity to both a bat virus and a pangolin virus suggests that viruses from the two animals may...