New coronavirus with 'particular risk' of jumping to humans found in Chinese bats

Scientists have identified five viruses "likely to be pathogenic to humans or livestock" after taking samples from 149 bats in the province from Yunnan in China, including one closely linked to SARS-CoV-2

Illustration of coronavirus particles. (

Image: Getty Images/RF Science Photo Library)

A new virus with similarities to the coronavirus has been identified in bats with the potential to spread to humans and livestock, according to new research.

Chinese and Australian scientists took samples from 149 bats in China's Yunnan province, bordering Laos and Myanmar, and identified five viruses "susceptible to pathogens for humans or animals". livestock".

A virus, known as BtSY2, is closely related to SARS-CoV-2 (which causes Covid-19) and is "particularly susceptible to emergence".

Prof Eddie Holmes, an evolutionary biologist and virologist at the University of Sydney and co-author of the report, said: "This means that Sars-Cov-2-like viruses are still circulating in bats. Chinese mice and continue to pose an emerging risk."

Daily Covid cases in China have reached their highest level since the start of the pandemic (

Picture:

AFP via Getty Images)

The article stated, "Our study highlights the common occurrence of interspecies transmission and co-infection of bat viruses, and their implications for virus emergence."

The fact that researchers found a high frequency of multiple viruses infecting a single bat at a time is of great concern.

This can cause existing viruses to swap parts of their genetic code to form new pathogens, according to Professor Jonathan Ball, a virologist at the University of Nottingham.