Asymptomatic spreaders of coronavirus – Learn from nature about ‘Cougar-Eared Dove-Sorghum Relation’

Recently the World Health Organization (WHO) has wondered about the rare existence of asymptomatic people being the carriers and super spreaders of novel coronavirus.  Yes and no answer only have come so far to the question of whether the asymptomatic carriers spread the virus to others. If the answer is no, then does that not mean the virus is friendly and gentle with many and aggressive with some? Is there any pathogen ever known to exhibit bi-polar virulence and if so, will we ever call such organism deadly?

If WHO has ever included classic evolutionary biologists in its team instead of consulting with clinicians and text book based epidemiologists to evolve a robust strategy to contain the viral pandemic, many doubts, anxieties and agog of WHO would have been answered by the evolutionary biologists by showing several examples and possibilities that exist in nature.  Only when we know different possibilities and probabilities, can decide what measure (s) should be taken or should we let go the virus so that a solution would emerge automatically without any human intervention. 

It is always construed that the herbs and herbivores animals (plant eaters; fructivorous, graminivorous, folivorous, nectivorous etc.,) only have direct relationship with each other.  Only these animals may help the plant in pollination event and seed dispersal and the top predator or carnivores’ animals may not have any relationship with plant community or its population. 

Nature knows how to employ different species of animals for different job either based on their direct skill or based on the benefit that they receive from the nature.  In the second scenario, the employee of the nature may not even know the job that he or she is accomplishing for the nature.

Cougar is the top predator in native America, especially in South America.  The animal is also called as Puma or Mountain lion or Red tiger etc.  Cougar is a strict carnivore, meaning it lives strictly by killing and eating other animals.  The interesting aspect is that Cougar do disseminate the seeds of the plant Sorghum.  One may wonder how a top predator could engage in seed dispersal of Sorghum when the animal does not eat sorghum or other plants.  Later it was found that Cougar when hunts and eats many herbivores animals like Eared Dove, the seeds of the plant present in the prey animal enters the gut of Cougar and then the seeds get dispersed in various localities through the faecal discharge of the animal.  The above process is called diploendozoochory.

Even if the primary seed dispersing animal like Eared Dove suffer predation by Cougar, the seed dispersal of the plant community should not suffer and hence the nature has helped the plant community to employ the Cougar also to disseminate the seeds by passive means.

The above example strongly points towards a cruel reality of nature and associated evolution of novel coronavirus. 

Coronavirus would have evolved and caught up man may be to balance the cybernetics of the nature.  Nature always provides equal space and opportunity only to the fittest and not the weakest.  Who knows, the novel coronavirus might have emerged for the above purpose.  So far what is seen globally is that only those who suffer from acute co-morbidity conditions succumb to the virus and otherwise the healthy people have gone either with mild symptoms or without any symptoms.  The virus from such host may jumps to another and may be looking for the weakest host to attack? 

The above conclusion also poses another big question about the sustained survival of the virus.  No virus can afford to kill its host because such an action would also terminate the existence of the virus.  Who knows, the virus may continue to shelter in healthy people and may target the weaker ones.  Otherwise, the virus may disappear from the scene because the first warning nature has already sent to human being all over the world through novel coronavirus.

When Sorghum wants to ensure the dispersal of its seeds and hence employed even the top predator – Cougar, how man can alter the intelligence of evolution without altering the entire ecosystem.  To stop the seed dispersal of Sorghum, man must hunt down all Cougar and also all herbivores that eat the plant.  The plant may then choose some other mode of transmission of its seeds.  Otherwise the plant Sorghum must be cleared off.  That would ends up in elimination of certain herbivores animals that depends on Sorghum and the associated predators also.  It is like how the life of people got chopped off when their livelihood was killed by the senseless lockdown. 

Similarly the novel coronavirus too has chosen or employed healthy people to spread from one to another.  To eliminate the virus and save the vulnerable, ironically we have to eliminate the healthy population first.   Healthy people remain healthy even when they carry the virus, then the real problem boils down to the vulnerable group.   We must protect the vulnerable group by isolating them and providing all medical care possible.  Instead, we are targeting the healthy people.   Like if hunt Cougar to prevent Sorghum population, we will end up in producing more Sorghum plants because all the Sorghum seed dispersing animals like Eared Dove will do the job for the plant without any fear of their hunter – Cougar. 

When we make the healthy people lose their livelihood, put them inside quarantine chamber and isolate them in containment zones, actually we are giving more room for the virus to emerge.  Epidemiological or medical wisdom directly hired from textbook may not be sufficient to address the pandemic. Well augured and complete understating of the virus beyond the purview of virology is essential and only evolutionary biologist alone can provide such wisdom.  

If the virus has emerged with a clear purpose, then man cannot fight the war and instead man must let go the virus, let the virus establish the cybernetics of the nature, let the fittest survive and the weakest go to the history sheet. 

Who is fittest and weakest, the virus alone can sniff and tell. 

Like the saying in law, all are innocent and honest until proven guilty; all of us are healthy until proven weak. If we assume we are already weak and vulnerable and easy meal of novel coronavirus then man cannot live in peace.  Today only such fear is driving man to run after the virus. 

Every hunter also can be hunted is the larger message of coronavirus.  The beauty of the nature is that it has chosen an invisible hunter and not the visible one, the man can easily defeat.  Further the virus also has employed the healthy people to target the weakest.  Who knows the virus must have been apologetic for millions of educated, unemployed youths and hence would have employed them as asymptomatic carriers. 

India and the world must free people and virus without any bars, like Sorghum seeds never would grow in Cougar’s gut; the virus also may not affect large proportion of the population.  If the virus has come with a target, it may disappear once it is accomplished; otherwise the virus may hang around forever. 

No testing, no quarantine and not containment zone are required to control the virus, instead people and virus need complete freedom and scope for livelihood to save humanity and not the continuation of lockdown.