Hedgehog Viruses May Threaten Cats More Than Humans

PULLMAN, Wash. - Washington State University researchers have discovered how a group of coronaviruses circulating in hedgehogs invades host cells, a key to understanding their potential to jump between species and their risk of causing a pandemic in humans.

Known as Erinaceus coronaviruses, or ErinCoVs, the viruses have concerned scientists because of their close relation to the one that causes Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS, a severe respiratory disease that spreads mainly from camels to humans and kills about one-third of infected people. The researchers found the hedgehog viruses are unlikely to infect humans without first undergoing multiple genetic mutations, but they may pose more immediate risks to other animals, including cats. The findings were published in Nature Microbiology.