New coronavirus or a serious threat to marine life

 A continuing COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected public health, the economy and society globally. At the same time, its impact also affected the environment and wildlife. A new study suggests that the new coronavirus may pose a serious threat to marine life.

In a recent study, the pathologist Sabazishan Masawaraja of Dalhousie University School of Medicine in Halifax, Canada, said poor wastewater management could have devastating effects on already declining marine mammal populations, as it would expose them to the environment contaminated by the new coronavirus.

Although COVID-19 is essentially a respiratory disease, analysts point out that the disease can lead to multiple organ infections, including gastrointestinal infections. COVID-19 patients expel viral pollutants through urine, the researchers said. At present, the virus has been found in untreated wastewater in many countries, including Italy, Spain, France and Australia.

Maharaja noted that the role of wastewater treatment and management is important in such an epidemic. As a result of poor wastewater management, wastes carrying highly infectious SARS-CoV-2 viruses are discharged into the natural water systems on which marine mammals depend.

in the analysis, masavaraj revealed susceptibility to marine mammals. Many species of whales, dolphins and seals, as well as sea otters, are vulnerable to viruses from waste water, he said. In addition, data maps highlight that current poor wastewater management in places such as Alaska may lead to exposure of susceptible marine mammal populations to the threat of new coronavirus. Given that more than half of the world's susceptible species are already at risk of declining numbers, viruses released from untreated wastewater may have devastating consequences for these populations.

 Researchers point out that many marine mammals inhabiting contaminated natural waterways will be exposed to the threat of new coronavirus, so it is important to determine which animals are most at risk. to this end, the researchers analyzed available data on the genomes of these susceptible marine mammals and modeled them to predict their susceptibility to the new coronavirus.