The emergence of new human and animal coronaviruses demand novel strategies that characterize the threat potential of newly discovered zoonotic strains. We synthetically recovered recombinant wild-type and derivative swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronaviruses (SADS-CoVs) that express indicator genes and characterized their growth, macromolecular biosynthesis, and replication efficiency in a variety of mammalian cell lines, including primary human cells. The data demonstrate that SADS-CoV has a broad host range and has inherent potential to disseminate between animal and human hosts, perhaps using swine as an intermediate species.

Zoonotic coronaviruses represent an ongoing threat, yet the myriads of circulating animal viruses complicate the identification of higher-risk isolates that threaten human health. Swine acute diarrhea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) is a newly discovered, highly pathogenic virus that likely evolved from closely related HKU2 bat coronaviruses, circulating in Rhinolophus spp. bats in…