Chinese scientists have discovered viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 in bats

A team of scientists from Shandong University in China found 24 coronavirus genomes in bats, according to a study published in the journal Cell.

Experts studied the saliva and waste products of 23 different species of bats (more than 300 individuals) that lived in Yunnan province in southern China, collected from May 2019 to November 2020. Of the genomes they found, four were similar to the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes coronavirus infection.

One of the novel coronaviruses, a specimen called RpYN06 found in a horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus cornutus), is genetically very similar to SARS-CoV-2, except for differences in the spike protein, a structure the virus uses when attaching to cells, scientists say. .