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You're invited to join Oregon State University in identifying SARS-CoV-2 hosts & transmission directionality. Don't delay - research begins soon!

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This research seeks to identify the SARS-CoV-2 intermediate host(s) and illuminate transmission pathways & directionality between & within a variety of mammals including humans, bats, cats, dogs, minks, alpacas, & others.

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An intermediate host for SARS-CoV-2 remains unidentified, despite the time & resources committed to the project over the last year. During this time, numerous cases of suspected human-to-animal transmission have occurred, complicated our understanding of the virus’ transmission dynamics.

Continuing research to identify SARS-CoV-2 intermediary hosts is extremely important for creating public health policies around this and future pandemics, particularly if transmission is bidirectional, as suspected. Identifying additional hosts and categorizing know hosts will help isolate SARS-CoV-2 transmission nodes among all susceptible species, helping slow transmission and block specific pathways. This is a critical step in disease prevention, treatment, and management among all susceptible species.

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This project will be led by a group of researchers at Oregon State University, but is really a global collaboration drawing on the work of many scientists, governments, NGOs, & others. It will contribute new genetic information to existing global databases, and offer a new analysis and synthesis of existing genetic data in order to better understand disease hosts and transmission dynamics, especially the lesser studied human-to-animal transmission pathway.

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The analysis will take place at Oregon State University & commences in January 2021. The research team welcomes submissions of genetic information for a variety of mammals with a known positive or suspected COVID-19 diagnosis. Please check this page regularly for submission announcements, instructions, and deadlines, or join our mailing list for the most up-to-date details.

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Thank you for your interest & willingness to help make our database as robust as it can possibly be. Be sure to check back often for project updates!