Bats in Laos caves found to carry coronaviruses that share key feature with Covid-19

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Bats in Laos caves found to carry coronaviruses that share key feature with Sars-CoV-2

VIENTIANE (BLOOMBERG) - Bats dwelling in limestone caves in northern Laos were found to carry coronaviruses that share a key feature with Sars-CoV-2, moving scientists closer to pinpointing the cause of Covid-19.

Researchers at France's Pasteur Institute and the University of Laos looked for viruses similar to the one that causes Covid-19 among hundreds of horseshoe bats.

They found three with closely matched receptor binding domains - the part of the coronavirus' spike protein used to bind to human ACE-2, the enzyme it targets to cause an infection.

The finding, reported in a paper released on Friday (Sept 17) that is under consideration for publication by Nature journal, shows that viruses closely related to Sars-CoV-2 exist in nature, including in several Rhinolophus, or horseshoe bat, species.

The research supports the hypothesis that the pandemic began from a spillover of a bat-borne virus.

About 1,000 such infections may be occurring daily in southern China and South-east Asia in areas with dense populations of bats from the Rhinolophus genus, a study on Tuesday found.

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