China scientists identify pangolin as possible coronavirus host

Pangolin?

What the hell is a pangolin?

There's such a thing as a scaly mammal?


China scientists identify pangolin as possible corona virus host

a reply to: Riffrafter

They are like Asian armadillos except they are very endangered for reasons of Chinese medicine. I guess there are pangolins in South America too.



OK, the video is comedy, but they are kind of cute really.

"The pangolin is one of Asia’s most trafficked mammals, although protected by international law, because its meat is considered a delicacy in countries such as China and its scales are used in traditional medicine, the World Wildlife Fund says."

Is there anything these mother" +#s don't eat!?
Just nuke the damn place.

I don't mean that really, it's just frustrating to read this

Good, maybe it'll keep them from killing those extremely cute animals.

Pangolins deserve peace, I know of traveling journalist who try to buy Pangolins and "save" them from eventual doom, such as the bellies of chinese.

originally posted by: XCrycek
"The pangolin is one of Asia’s most trafficked mammals, although protected by international law, because its meat is considered a delicacy in countries such as China and its scales are used in traditional medicine, the World Wildlife Fund says."

Is there anything these mother" +#s don't eat!?
Just nuke the damn place.

I don't mean that really, it's just frustrating to read this

LOL joke I read elsewhere is aliens landed long ago in China, and they ate them.
Evidently, if it will fit in a wok they will eat it.
Hopefully, this will lead to them cracking down on illegal markets but wasn't the last viral outbreak linked to civets another banned species they regularly eat.

This could be a glimmer of light in the darkness.
If the corona virus is linked to the pangolin,maybe this wonderful species will be saved from extintion if it becomes feared by the chinese,who are driving the killing and trafficking of the animal for BS chinese medicine and food.

I hope scientists could link rhino horn to the virus as well.

a reply to: Silcone Synapse

My first thought is that it might lead to wholesale slaughter of them as the source of the disease.

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse
This could be a glimmer of light in the darkness.
If the corona virus is linked to the pangolin,maybe this wonderful species will be saved from extintion if it becomes feared by the chinese,who are driving the killing and trafficking of the animal for BS chinese medicine and food.

I hope scientists could link rhino horn to the virus as well.

Because you know, saving the Pangolin from extinction matters when all of us humans are apparently going to die from the Coronavirus lol.

Armadillos is how we found the cure for leprosy in the US. The Federal Government was still caring for those with leprosy in the late 90's in Louisiana. Not sure of if any of them are still living.

In China they do eat things that absolutely should not be eaten and this thing is likely one of them. I have never heard of anyone eating an Armadillo in the US.

This animal is China is known for having a VERY WEAK IMMUNE system. It is also endangered. Time for China to put on their big boy pants and become a real country and make some damn regulations.

originally posted by: Stupidsecrets
Armadillos is how we found the cure for leprosy in the US. The Federal Government was still caring for those with leprosy in the late 90's in Louisiana. Not sure of if any of them are still living.

In China they do eat things that absolutely should not be eaten and this thing is likely one of them. I have never heard of anyone eating an Armadillo in the US.

Armadillos are still one of the leading causes of leprosy. From what I've read there are 200ish cases each year in the US.

I remember my friend had a little boy that liked to hurt animals (yikes right) and he loved collecting dead animals off the road and saved the bones (yikes again right, and she didn't see a prob with this) anyways, he got an armadillo, and let me tell you, I didn't want to go anywhere near that thing!

a reply to: Riffrafter


Pangolin, think Texas armadillo and you are close.
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Flag of United States
World News
February 7, 2020 / 2:45 AM / Updated 30 minutes ago
Scientists question work suggesting pangolin coronavirus link
Kate Kelland, Tom Daly

3 Min Read

LONDON/BEIJING (Reuters) - Independent scientists questioned research on Friday that suggested that the outbreak of coronavirus disease spreading from China might have passed from bats to humans through the illegal traffic of pangolins.
FILE PHOTO: A man holds a pangolin at a wild animal rescue center in Cuc Phuong, outside Hanoi, Vietnam September 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kham

South China Agricultural University, which said it had led the research, said on its website that the “discovery will be of great significance for the prevention and control of the origin (of the new virus)”.

China’s official Xinhua news agency reported that the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus strain separated from pangolins in the study was 99% identical to that from infected people. It said the research had found pangolins - the world’s only scaly mammals - to be “the most likely intermediate host.”

But James Wood, head of the veterinary medicine department at Britain’s University of Cambridge, said the research was far from robust.

“The evidence for the potential involvement of pangolins in the outbreak has not been published, other than by a university press release. This is not scientific evidence,” he said.

“Simply reporting detection of viral RNA with sequence similarity of more than 99% is not sufficient. Could these results have been caused by contamination from a highly infected environment?”

Pangolins are one of Asia’s most trafficked mammals, despite laws banning the trade, because their meat is considered a delicacy in countries such as China and their scales are used in traditional medicine.

The outbreak of disease caused by the new coronavirus, which has killed 636 people in mainland China, is believed to have started in a market in the city of Wuhan that also sold live wild animals.

Virus experts think it may have originated in bats and then passed to humans, possibly via another species.

Jonathan Ball, a professor of molecular virology at Britain’s University of Nottingham, said that while the South China Agricultural University research was an interesting development, it was still unclear “whether or not the endangered pangolin really is the reservoir”.

“We would need to see all of the genetic data to get a feel for how related the human and pangolin viruses are, and also gain an understanding of how prevalent this virus is in pangolins and whether or not these were being sold in the Wuhan wet markets,” he said.

Dirk Pfeiffer, a professor of veterinary medicine at Hong Kong’s City University, also said the research was a long way from establishing a link between pangolins and the new coronavirus outbreak in humans.

“You can only draw more definitive conclusions if you compare prevalence (of the coronavirus) between different species based on representative samples, which these almost certainly are not,” he said.

Additional reporting by Dominique Patton in Beijing. Editing by John Stonestreet, Peter Graff and Giles Elgood
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originally posted by: XxXAphroditeXxX
Because you know, saving the Pangolin from extinction matters when all of us humans are apparently going to die from the Coronavirus lol.

Where did you get the idea its going to kill all humans from?
It could be serious,but its not goingg to kill all humans,far from it.

a reply to: whatwasthat

Pangolin, think Texas armadillo and you are close.

The stuff of nightmares, IMO.

[shiver]

Scientists question work suggesting pangolin coronavirus link

www.reuters.com...

a reply to: Stupidsecrets

Time for China to put on their big boy pants and become a real country and make some damn regulations.

Yeah, that'll happen.

Because China always does what is in the rest of the world's best interests...

originally posted by: Silcone Synapse

originally posted by: XxXAphroditeXxX
Because you know, saving the Pangolin from extinction matters when all of us humans are apparently going to die from the Coronavirus lol.

Where did you get the idea its going to kill all humans from?
It could be serious,but its not goingg to kill all humans,far from it.

Well we'll see won't we? But if a massive amount of humans died, clearly no one will be caring about the extinction of the Pangolin. I'm more concerned about my fellow humans right now.

a reply to: XxXAphroditeXxX

Fair enough.
hopefully the virus doesnt get any worse,its bad enough in China already

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Silcone Synapse

My first thought is that it might lead to wholesale slaughter of them as the source of the disease.

Sadly thats probably what they will do to the ones in China,but they are also close to extinct in the other countries where they live(across asia and africa)because the chinese traffic them for body parts.
maybe they will think twice about doing that now.
I hope so.
I saw one in Nepal a while back,really cool creature I thought.
The locals called him what translated as a "living pine cone."
They are very rare over there they told me.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Silcone Synapse

My first thought is that it might lead to wholesale slaughter of them as the source of the disease.

My 1st thought as well

So...an anteater boinked an artichoke and this is how God punishes us.