Researchers at Shandong First Medical University & Shandong Academy of Medical Sciences in Taian, China, revealed that a bat virus, found in China, is 94.5 per cent similar to COVID-19.
The authors of the new study stated that the RpYN06 virus's genetic make-up is similar to SARS-CoV-2, which is currently in circulation around the world.
For the study, the researchers examined data collected in China's Yunnan province between May 2019 and November 2020.
According to CNN Indonesia, a total of 411 samples from 23 species of bat were gathered for the study.
The findings suggested that there could be at least four viruses that were similar to SARS-CoV-2. Of these four, RpYN06 seemed to have almost the same genetic make-up as COVID-19.
Notably, RpYN06 reportedly does not have the same spike protein which is found in SARS-CoV-2. The spike protein is used by SARS-CoV-2 to enter and proliferate in the host’s cells.
The researchers said, as cited in the Metro UK report: "Our study highlights both the remarkable diversity of bat viruses at the local scale and that relatives of SARS-CoV-2 and SARS-CoV circulate in wildlife species in a broad geographic region of Southeast Asia and southern China.”
They added: “These data will help guide surveillance efforts to determine the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and other pathogenic coronaviruses."
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.