24 new batch of coronaviruses found in bats by Chinese researchers in Yunnan

June 13: In a shocking revelation, Chinese researchers have found 24 new coronaviruses in bats, as per a report published in Journal Cell. In early 2020, a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, was identified as the causative agent of a pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China, that eventually turned into a global pandemic, killing lakhs of people. The research has been conducted by Weifeng Shi of the University of Shandong and his colleagues in a single, small region of Yunnan province, southwestern China.

The researchers collected 283 fecal samples, 109 oral swabs and 19 urine samples from small, forest-dwelling bats in a tropical botanical garden and adjacent areas in a county in Yunnan province between May 2019 and November 2020. They assembled 24 novel coronavirus genomes, including “four SARS-CoV-2-like” diseases.  Scientists found that one strain of the virus discovered in the bat species Rhinolophus pusillus had a striking resemblance to SARS-CoV-2, although there were differences in spike proteins.

The researchers concluded, “Together with the SARS-CoV-2 related virus collected from Thailand in June 2020, these results clearly demonstrate that viruses closely related to SARS-CoV-2 continue to circulate in bat populations, and in some regions might occur at a relatively high frequency.”

Now researchers are trying to locate the original source of SARS-CoV-2. Although bats are the likely source, the researchers said it’s quite likely that the virus infected an intermediary animal. A World Health Organisation report has also said the most likely source of SARS-COV-2 is an animal, probably a bat.