Researchers at The Ohio State University and Utrecht University in the Netherlands have identified a new pig virus that poses potential threat to humans and other animals.
Laboratory tests revealed that porcine deltacoronavirus, first detected in China in 2012, could jump from pig cells into human cells.
The pathogen bears a likeness to the virus responsible for SARS and MERS. This was particularly worrying because previous studies found that SARS originated in bats before spreading to people. Meanwhile, an ongoing MERS outbreak in Saudi Arabia showed that the virus originated from camels and spread through people who had close contact with the animals
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