KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - A new type of coronavirus believed to

have originated in dogs was detected among patients hospitalised

with pneumonia in 2017-2018, and may be the eighth unique
coronavirus known to cause disease in humans if it is confirmed as
a pathogen, a study said.
Authors of the study, published in Clinical Infectious Diseases on
Thursday, said their findings underscored the public health threat of
animal coronaviruses.
The researchers said they had tested nasal swab samples taken
from 301 pneumonia patients at a hospital in the east Malaysian
state of Sarawak. Eight of the samples, mostly from children under
5 years old, came back positive for a canine coronavirus.
Further genomic sequencing found that the new strain, named
CCoV-HuPn-2018, shared characteristics of other coronaviruses
known to have infected cats and pigs but was mostly similar to one
that is known to have infected dogs.
It also contained a genetic deletion mutation that was not found in
any known canine coronaviruses but was present in human strains
such as SARS-COV and SARS-COV-2, the virus behind the
COVID-19 pandemic. The source of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus
itself, whether animal or other, remains unclear.
The paper's authors said the findings indicated that the virus likely
recently jumped from animals to humans, but stressed that more
studies were needed to determine whether it can be transmitted
between people.
They also said it was unclear whether the virus could make people
sick, noting that it was possible it was merely "carried" in the
patient's airways without causing disease.
There are seven coronaviruses known to cause disease in humans:
four that cause the common cold, and three that cause the diseases
commonly known as SARS, MERS and COVID-19.