Are stray dogs, cattle helping us put up a stronger fight against COVID-19?

Bengaluru-based researchers have submitted a paper to an international peer-reviewed journal that interspecies transmission of coronaviruses from stray dogs and cattle population is probably why Indians have been immune to SARS-CoV-2. The coronaviruses from dogs and cattle are altering our response to SARS-CoV-2, and we are putting a stronger fight to the virus as the body already has antibodies to fight it, argue researchers.

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The researchers: Vishal Rao US, Swetha Kannan, Gururaj Arakeri, Anand Subash, and Batra HV, four of whom are doctors at Bengaluru-based HCG hospital, have their paper under review in Elseviers publication.

In their paper, the researchers argue, "The relatively mild form of infection and better recovery rates of COVID-19 patients in India indicates the potential intervention of other 'unconventional' biological mechanisms. The similarity between animal coronavirus and the human-enteric coronavirus, reported in recent studies, led us to hypothesise that previous contact with infected dogs or cattle could shield humans from the circulating SARS-CoV-2 virus."

Dr Vishal Rao, Associate Dean for Centre of Academic Research at HealthCare Global (HCG) Cancer Centre, Bengaluru, said, "It is speculated that re-emerging contact with canine and bovine coronaviruses may lead to stimulation of the immune system, helping the contact mount an effective response against beta-coronaviruses including SARS-CoV-2. This could lead to partial immunisation."

This leaves us with the intriguing possibility of canine and bovine coronaviruses being a potential source of COVID-19 vaccines, he added. The possible relationship between the abundant stray dogs and cattle population and the presence of a mild course and low mortality rates of COVID-19 in India is yet to be validated, he said.

India is home to over 35 million stray dogs and a cattle population is nearly 150 million. According to a recent report, the incidence of canine respiratory coronavirus (CCov) in dogs ranges from 7.5% to 54.7%.