What is the Grimso virus like: the new coronavirus found in Sweden that could jump to humans

According to some versions, the COVID pandemic began with bats and pangolins, which however are not the only wild animals hosting new coronaviruses.

Rodents such as rats, mice, and moles can also carry viruses that are sometimes capable of jumping to humans.

Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden have identified a widespread and common coronavirus among Swedish moles (Myodes glareolus), which they named Grimsö virus, from the place where it was discovered.

The new coronavirus could infect humans

“We do not yet know what potential threats the Grimsö virus may pose to public health. However, based on our observations and previous coronaviruses identified among voles, there is good reason to continue monitoring it,” says the virologist. Ake Lundkvistof the Upsala Universityfrom Sweden.

Voles are one of the most widespread rodents in Europe. They often interbreed with humans and are known hosts of the Puumala virus, which causes a hemorrhagic fever known as epidemic nephropathy in humans.

Voles, when seeking shelter from adverse weather conditions, take refuge in human buildingswhich increases the risk of contracting the disease.

Even before the start of the COVID pandemic, Lundkvist and colleagues from Uppsala University, they monitored wildlife diseases among voles, to better predict when their viruses might overflow.

Given the relentless pace of climate change and habitat destruction, interactions with voles are likely to increase in the future.

How they discovered the Grimso virus, the new coronavirus

Between 2015 and 2017, Uppsala researchers examined 450 wild voles from a place west of Stockholm called Grimsö. Testing the creatures for coronavirus, the team found a new betacoronavirus in circulation in 3.4% of the sample.

Betacoronaviruses are usually found among bats and rodents and when they jump to humans they are responsible for the cause of the common cold and respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2.

The new vole virus has not yet been detected in humansbut if COVID has taught us anything, it is that it takes increased surveillance of wildlife diseases to prevent new outbreaks.

In three years, Swedish researchers have discovered several viral strains of the Grimsö virus circulating among them voles populations in France, Germany and Poland, suggesting that these creatures are natural reservoirs of the disease.

Therefore, the highly divergent nature of the Grimsö virus is a bad sign. It indicates that the virus easily adapts to new hosts and habitats.

‘Since voles are one of the most common rodent species in Sweden and Europe, our results indicate this the Grimsö virus could circulate widely in voles and underline the importance of closely monitoring their developmentwrote the authors of the Swedish study.

What is a coronavirus and what are its symptoms?

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause diseases such as the common cold.severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (MERS).

Symptoms of infection with the new coronavirus can appear 2 to 14 days after exposure and can include:

• Fever
• Cough
• Dyspnea (shortness of breath or difficulty in breathing)
• Myalgia (muscle aches)
• Asthenia (tiredness or physical weakness)
• Faint or no odor (absence of odor and taste)

The severity of symptoms can range from very mild to extremeand even death, although most people who have had a severe infection have been elderly people or people who already had other significant health problems.

This is similar to what is seen in people who have severe infections with other respiratory diseases, such as the flu.