COVID-19 has been found in mammals in the wild, and in domesticated mammals. What about birds?
There is no any concrete scientific evidence to prove that birds can host COVID-19.
Dear Dr Robert You must have heard of Bird Flu; that was another strain. Wether birds can host SARS-Cov2 is a moot question. The jury is still out on this. However, the following links may help:
https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/which-species-transmit-covid-19-to-humans-were-still-not-sure-67272
Article The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2
Regards
Coronaviruses are known to infect mammals and birds, including dogs, chickens, cattle, pigs, cats, pangolins, and bats.
There is no any concrete scientific evidence to prove that birds can host COVID-19.
Coronaviruses are species-specific. This makes it more likely that the virus cannot spread from humans to birds and vice-versa.
Hitherto, I have not read any scientific paper to conclusively establish that birds can act as natural host of COVID-19.
Coronaviruses belong to the family Coronaviridae. Alpha- and beta-coronaviruses usually infect mammals, while gamma and delta coronaviruses usually infect birds and fish. Canine coronavirus, which can cause mild diarrhea and feline coronavirus, which can cause feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), are both alpha-coronaviruses. These coronaviruses are not associated with the current coronavirus outbreak. Until the appearance of SARS-Cov-2, which belongs to the beta-coronaviruses, there were only six known coronaviruses capable of infecting humans and causing respiratory disease, including the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus SARS-CoV (identified in 2002/2003) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus MERS-CoV (identified in 2012). SARS-Cov-2 is genetically more related to SARS-CoV than MERS-CoV, but both are beta-coronaviruses with their origins in bats. While it is not known whether COVID-19 will behave the same way as SARS and MERS, the information from both of these earlier coronaviruses can inform recommendations concerning COVID-19.
So far, there is no scientific evidence of COVID-19 in birds. Therefore, deltacoronaviruses and gammacoronaviruses are infecting a wide range of birds.
There is no evidence that COVID 19 could transfer to birds. Such virus are species specific. The virus does not transfer between mammal species excepting bats as COVID 19 has jumped from bats to humans and then it spread from human to human. Therefore, there is no possibility that the virus can spread from human to birds or birds acting as host of the virus. So, it is very unlikely that birds could act as host of the virus.
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