Lethal Pneumonia Cases in Mojiang Miners (2012) and the Mineshaft Could Provide Important Clues to the Origin of SARS-CoV-2

Abstract

With the COVID-19 pandemic reaching its worst heights, people are interested in the origin of SARS-CoV-2. This study started with two important questions: first, were there any similar atypical pneumonia outbreaks, even on a smaller level, reported between SARS in 2004 and COVID-19 in 2019/20 in China. Second, examining the betacoronavirus most closely related to date with SARS-CoV-2 at the genome sequence level, strain RaTG13 (CoV4991), which was sampled from a horseshoe bat in Yunnan province, we asked where exactly did it come from. It was found that RaTG13/CoV4991 was collected from Tongguan mineshaft in Mojiang, Yunnan, China, in 2013. Surprisingly, the same mineshaft was also associated with a severe pneumonia-like illness in miners in 2012 killing three of the six miners. A Master's thesis (in the Chinese language) was found on the cnki.net website which described in detail the severe illness in miners. The thesis concluded that a SARS-like CoV originating from Chinese horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus) was the predicted causative agent. The cases were remotely monitored by a prominent pulmonologist in China. Retrospective analysis of the pneumonia cases shows striking similarities with COVID-19. Bilateral pneumonia, vascular complications like pulmonary thromboembolism, and secondary infections are the main similarities. The treatment regimes were similar to the current treatments for COVID-19. We propose that the Mojiang mineshaft miners' illness could provide important clues to the origin of SARS-CoV-2. These cases should be studied by various academicians, researchers, and medical professionals as many important questions are raised in this context.

Identifying Hotspots in the Distribution of Human Infectious Diseases Using a Bayesian Framework: A Lead to Drivers, Prevention, and Surveillance of Disease Emergence

“…Whether high population density leads to observer bias and thus increased reporting of outbreaks needs to be examined in detail. The report of a SARS-like pneumonia in 2012 in miners in the Tongguan, Mojiang (38) raises the issue of potentially unreported sporadic outbreaks in regions with limited populations. Studies show that the emergence of coronaviral disease such as SARS (39) and MERS( 40) is directly related to exposure to body uids from mammal raised in con ned spaces for bushmeat and recreation activities, respectively.…”

Plagues, Pandemics, Health Security, and the War on Nature

“…Firstly, the link between the mine-associated human illnesses and RaTG13 was not officially disclosed until November 17, 2020, in an addendum written by WIVassociated investigators, published in Nature [21], over nine months after the original report of RaTG13, also published in Nature, on February 3, 2020 [14]. The addendum appeared almost one month after Rahalkar and Bahulikar's paper, which not only discussed the Masters thesis, but which also speculated that RaTG13 was first found in material sampled from the same cave where the miners had acquired their illness [23]. An earlier paper (published February 2016), also led by WIV researchers, had reported the identification of viruses sourced in material from the mine but had also failed to disclose any human illness [24].…”

“…Six miners, of whom 3 died, had worked in this mine in 2012, removing bat guano. The cause of their respiratory illness was hypothesised by the medical team treating them as a viral and fungal co-infection [22,23]. This information, reported in a thesis, was scarcely known outside China until revealed in 2020 by activists and then in a single (to date) peer reviewed paper [23].…”

“…The cause of their respiratory illness was hypothesised by the medical team treating them as a viral and fungal co-infection [22,23]. This information, reported in a thesis, was scarcely known outside China until revealed in 2020 by activists and then in a single (to date) peer reviewed paper [23]. The thesis also revealed that several of these cases of pneumonia had been brought to the attention of Zhong Nanshan, one of the most senior doctors in China.…”

Functional Analysis of the Fusion and Attachment Glycoproteins of Mojiang Henipavirus

“…The third Henipavirus species, Mojiang virus (MojV) ( Mojiang henipavirus ), was discovered in 2012 specimens collected from yellow-breasted rats ( Rattus flavipectus ) in the Tongguan mine in Mojiang, Yunnan, China, where three miners had died of pneumonia of unknown etiology [ 17 ]. The clinical presentation of these infections and the confirmed exposure of the miners to horseshoe bats (genus Rinolophus ), which are known to harbor SARS-like coronaviruses, have recently led to the suspicion, retrospectively, that these cases of pneumonia may be linked to SARS-like coronavirus infection [ 18 ]. No viral isolates of GhV and MojV have been recovered to date; GhV and MojV are known only from genetic sequence data [ 17 , 19 ], and the pathogenic potential of either of these henipaviruses remains unknown.…”