• Question: Can insects carry the corona virus?

    Asked by anon-240667 to Tom on 9 Mar 2020.
    • Photo: Tom Dally

      Tom Dally answered on 9 Mar 2020: last edited 17 Mar 2020 1:35 pm

      Not as far as we know, no. This isn’t my research area, but the coronavirus appears to be primarily spread though fluid droplets from coughing (https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/), and since insects can’t cough or spread respiratory fluids around (they don’t breathe through their mouths, but through tiny holes called spiracles along the sides of their bodies) they don’t appear to be able to spread the virus (as far as we know). Our understanding of this may change with future research, though.
      See this site for any information on coronavirus: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

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