Horseshoe bat coronavirus linked to COVID virus – study

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Horseshoe bats found in caves in Laos carry coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2, researchers from the Pasteur Institute and the University of Laos have found.

The study is pre-printed and is being considered for publication by a Nature newspaper.

The researchers looked for viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 and found three of the bats that had receptor binding domains closely resembling those found in the virus, Bloomberg reported. The domains are part of the spike protein that allows the virus to attach to the human ACE-2 enzyme. The study noted that no other virus similar to the microbe that caused COVID had used this enzyme to infect human cells.

The researchers named the pathogens BANAL-52, BANAL-103 and BANAL-236.

This undated transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2, also known as the novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the United States. Viral particles emerge from the surface of cells grown in the laboratory. Spikes on the outer edge of the viral part (Credit: NIAID-RML / FILE PHOTO / HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)This undated transmission electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2, also known as the novel coronavirus, the virus that causes COVID-19, isolated from a patient in the United States. Viral particles emerge from the surface of cells grown in the laboratory. Spikes on the outer edge of the viral part (Credit: NIAID-RML / FILE PHOTO / HANDOUT VIA REUTERS)

The results support the theory that the COVID-19 pandemic began due to genetic crossbreeding of a bat coronavirus.

According to Bloomberg, Marc Eloit, head of pathogen discovery at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, and the co-authors said the coronaviruses they found are “the closest ancestors of SARS-CoV-2 known to this day”.

“These viruses may have contributed to the origin of SARS-CoV-2 and may inherently pose a future risk of direct transmission to humans,” he added.



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