COVID Discovery in Pig Cells Could Lead to Human Treatments

Recent revelations in China have health authorities circling back to a large live animal food market in Wuhan as the genesis of the coronavirus pandemic.  As new variants continue to emerge, a domino effect of homegrown zoonotic spillover discoveries have followed.

Dr. Rahul Nelli/Research Assistant Professor/Iowa State University – College of Veterinary Medicine:  “We are happy to share.  This is very cutting edge research, you know?  This is all because of our previous experiences.  Dr. Gimenez has worked with SARS-CoVid-1 before, and I worked with influenza before, in my PhD.”

Doctors Rahul Nelli and Luis Gimenez-Lirola of Iowa State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine had already amassed significant related analysis by the time SARS-CoV2, the virus which causes COVID-19, surfaced. 

Dr. Luis Gimenez-Lirola/Associate Professor/Iowa State University – College of Veterinary Medicine:  “There’s coronaviruses for all single species, even whales, and dolphins.  So there is no single animal species on the planet that is not affected for one or more coronaviruses.  In pigs, there’s at least five.”

From the outset, Iowa’s livestock were found minimally susceptible to COVID-19.  Though high doses have been shown to infect swine – which contribute over $7 billion annually to the state’s economy.  Research scientists in at least four other countries also concluded hogs don’t develop clinical disease or spread the virus to other animals.  Iowa State says they’ve uncovered additional information which could lead to new COVID treatments for people.

Dr. Rahul Nelli/Research Assistant Professor/Iowa State University – College of Veterinary Medicine:  “We were able to generate a three-dimensional, multi-layer cellular structure.”

By infecting cultured respiratory cells from euthanized pigs, investigators observed controlled cell death, known as apoptosis – which minimizes tissue damage and replication – thereby limiting severe illness.

Dr. Rahul Nelli/Research Assistant Professor/Iowa State University – College of Veterinary Medicine:  “With SARS CoV2, we saw almost like 100 times more apoptosis in pig cells compared to human cells.”

In their peer-reviewed findings, published in December 2021, the researchers say human beings, by contrast, largely shed COVID through necrosis – where dead cell material spills into and inflames surrounding tissue – causing a strong immune response which has led to the death of over six million worldwide.

Dr. Luis Gimenez-Lirola/Associate Professor/Iowa State University – College of Veterinary Medicine:  “SARS-2 is not a risk for pigs, and the pigs, therefore, is not a risk for humans, so, that’s a big thing for us, living in Iowa.”

Despite this pandemic breakthrough, experts caution the virus could still latch onto other hosts in the animal kingdom and act as a disease mutation reservoir.

Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi/Virologist – Penn State University:  “That would facilitate virus evolution and emergence of novel variants.”

Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi is a virologist at Penn State University.  Thanks to a USDA grant and collaboration with Iowa State and the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, his team documented the first widespread natural COVID infection among wildlife last year among white-tailed deer.  Though nowhere near the number one status garnered by the size of the state’s hog herd, deer also are ubiquitous in Iowa.  Just a few states boast higher numbers.

Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi/Virologist – Penn State University:  “We do not know how deer are picking up the virus from humans in the first place.  Several routes have been proposed, and one of them is environmental contamination – through leftover food or wastewater potentially – or a number of other avenues.”

Penn State utilized lymph nodes, originally collected from Iowa hunts and roadkill to track chronic wasting disease – a neurological disorder in deer. 

Dr. Vivek Kapur/Infectious Disease Specialist – Penn State University:  “It’s just incredible to see how quickly this occurred.”

They found COVID antibodies in 1,200 of 2,000 samples. 

Kuchipudi documented cases in Pennsylvania, as well as the emergence of delta and omicron variants among deer in New York State this year.  Last month, a Canadian study declared the first possible deer-to-human COVID transmission.  Kuchipudi says the initial report is significant, but there is missing data.

Dr. Suresh Kuchipudi/Virologist – Penn State University:  “I think the general call for most people is there is no reason to worry about getting SARS CoV2 from animals. But we need to do our part by vaccinating ourselves so we will not contribute in the further spread of the virus.”

But what about eating meat from potential virus carriers?  Kuchipudi says it’s safe, as long as it’s prepared in accordance with standard safety methods.

Ty Gustafson/Co-Owner - Story City Locker, LLC/Story City, Iowa:  “Like anything else, we’ll refer to the experts.”

Ty Gustafson is vice-president of the Iowa Meat Processors Association and runs Story City Locker, a small artisanal meat processor near Iowa State University.  Gustafson harvests and packages beef, pork and only boneless deer trim – a chronic wasting disease precaution.  Demand surged during the depths of the pandemic, but he says his fully vaccinated staff hasn’t experienced adverse COVID-19 issues with their products – nor have association members. 

Ty Gustafson/Co-Owner - Story City Locker, LLC/Story City, Iowa:  “Most of the product we’re handling and then returning to customers is cooked product.  So, anti-microbials and things, you know…we use USDA regulations on cook temperatures, and all those things, to make sure that anything that, could potentially be bad, is cooked to lethality.”

Iowa State hopes their news will drive partnerships and funnel funds into research at the state and national level – but bureaucratic hurdles and endless questions remain.

Dr. Rahul Nelli/Research Assistant Professor/Iowa State University – College of Veterinary Medicine:  “We need to find all the diagnostic tools to be able to detect, and then have surveillance strategies…how to mitigate these viruses – and early on – rather than when it’s too late.”

Dr. Luis Gimenez-Lirola/Associate Professor/Iowa State University – College of Veterinary Medicine:  “I wish the policies will go as fast as the technologies advance, but the viruses are even faster than us, so we are always behind.”

For Market to Market, I’m Josh Buettner.