Scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shandong University conducted a study on the evolutionary origin of SARS-CoV-2 and found 24 new types of coronavirus infection in bats.
After examining samples of saliva and waste products from 342 bats collected from May 2019 to November 2020, experts found more than two dozen COVID-19 genomes in the collected material and identified four coronaviruses that are similar to SARS-CoV-2, which has become cause of the pandemic.
According to experts, viruses associated with SARS-CoV-2 continue to circulate in bat populations. Scientists claim that these bats are an excellent natural reservoir for pathogens that cause severe disease in humans.
“In addition to bats and humans, coronavirus infection can infect many domestic and wild animals, including pigs, cattle, mice, cats, dogs, chickens, deer and hedgehogs,” the study, the results of which are published in the journal Cell …
We will remind, earlier the expert of the World Health Organization called the version of the transmission of the new type of coronavirus by bats the most likely.
