Researchers have discovered viruses in Chinese bats that can infect humans. Among them is a pathogen that is related to the coronavirus and could have a high pathogenicity.
Recently, researchers have found that hungry bats can transmit more viruses. In general, mammals can even carry several of these pathogens and also transmit them to humans. This also applies to five newly discovered viruses. Scientists have discovered virus species in southern China, including one with Sars and the Coronavirus (Sars-CoV-2) is related.
BtSY2: New corona-like virus discovered in bats
The research team led by Chinese and Australian scientists took 149 samples from bats in Yunnan province. These viruses could cause diseases in humans. One of them, BtSY2, showed characteristics of Sars-CoV-2. This includes having a receptor-binding domain in the spike protein. This allows it to bind to human cells and is also recognized by Covid-19 vaccines. This indicates that BtSY2 can infect humans. “This means that Sars-Cov-2-like viruses are still circulating in Chinese bats and continue to pose a risk of emergence,” said Prof Eddie Holmes, evolutionary biologist and virologist at the University of Sydney and co-author of the report.
“It (editor’s note: BtSY2) is similar to the BANAL bat viruses from Laos and the most similar animal virus that we know from China,” said Prof. Holmes, referring to the most similar virus found in nature has been identified with Sars-Cov-2, which was found in bat caves in Laos last year.
Transmission to humans possible: Several viruses can exist in bats
The research would also have shown that multiple viruses can exist in bats and they can exchange genetic codes. “Such co-infections, especially with related viruses such as the coronavirus, give the virus the opportunity to exchange critical parts of the genetic information, which of course gives rise to new variants,” the “telegraphProf Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham, who was not involved in the study. According to Professor Stuart Neil, Head of the Infectious Diseases Unit at King’s College London, the study would reveal a ‘clear and present threat of new spillover viruses to the People”. The research work was called preprint released. This means that the research results have not yet been checked by other scientists. In addition, it does not provide any information about how the corona virus developed and how it was transmitted. A new analysis presented at the One Health Congress in Singapore earlier this month. Some viruses are said to have shared genomes only since 2016.
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