Study finds COVID-related bat viruses in Thai cave

Researchers from Thailand and Singapore have tracked down COVID-19 related coronaviruses, dubbed SC2r-CoVs, in bats from a cave in Thailand, indicating the broad distribution and genetic diversity of potential ancestor viruses, according to a report published on genomeweb.com.

"Although the origin of the virus remains unresolved, our study extended the geographic distribution of SC2r-CoVs from Japan and China to Thailand over a 4,800-kilometer range," the report read. The findings were published by co-senior authors Lin-Fa Wang and Thiravat Hemachudha, researchers with Chulalongkorn University's Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases Health Science Centre, and other co-authors in Nature Communications on Tuesday.

Starting with surveillance screenings for SARS-related coronaviruses in rectal swab or blood samples from 100 acuminatushorseshoe bats (rhinolophus acuminatus) in Thailand and 10 pangolins at wildlife checkpoints in the country, Wang, Hemachudha, and their colleagues identified SC2r-CoV isolates in five bats from a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Thailand.

Their subsequent whole-genome sequencing and phylogenetic analyses suggested the Thai bats carried SC2r-CoVs with genetic ties to a viral isolate known as RmYN02, detected in R. malayanusbats from Southwest China's Yunnan province in China.

"[T]he current study provides further experimental evidence to support the notion the distribution of SC2r-CoVs is not limited to China," the authors reported. "Southeast Asia, due to its richness in both relevant bat species diversity and population density, may be more likely to be a hotspot for such viruses."