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horseshoe bat image via Shutterstock

Chinese bats likely source of SARS virus - report

Researchers have also said that direct bat-to-human transmission is “plausible”.

SCIENTISTS IN THE United States have said they have produced the “clearest evidence yet” that the SARS virus originated in Chinese horseshoe bats and that direct bat-to-human transmission is “plausible”.

Researchers have been studying the virus since the 2002 pandemic to better understand how it is transmitted and prepare for future outbreaks. These findings were made by an international research team with participants in China, Australia, Singapore and the US.

“Our discovery that bats carrying SARS-CoV may be able to directly infect humans has enormous implications for public health control measures,” said co-author Dr Peter Daszak.

The results are based on genetic analysis of samples taken over the course of a year from members of a horseshoe bat colony in Kunming, China. At least seven different strains of SL-CoVs were found to be circulating within the single group of bats.

Researchers suggested the findings highlight the importance of research programs targeting high-risk wildlife groups in emerging disease hotspots to predict, prepare for, and prevent pandemics.

“Our findings suggest that SARS-like coronaviruses are diverse and abundant in bats in Asia, and the potential for future spillover remains high,” Daszak said.

“If we add this to the recent finding that Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) originates in Saudi Arabian bats, it’s strong evidence that bat coronaviruses remain a substantial global threat to public health,” he added.

The full results of the study were published today in the journal Nature.

Related: Deadly new virus sparks call for ‘urgent actions’ to prevent spread>

Read: Saudi man dies of MERS virus, bringing death toll to 41>

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18 Comments
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    Mute Timothy Gaythorpe
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    Oct 30th 2013, 6:17 PM

    He has the look of James Riley about him lol

    71
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    Mute Michael Russell
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    Oct 30th 2013, 6:36 PM

    Nope- Eamonn Dunphy

    35
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    Mute CC
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    Oct 30th 2013, 7:38 PM

    I’m seeing Woody Allen

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    Mute Stephen Doyle
    Favourite Stephen Doyle
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    Oct 30th 2013, 8:19 PM

    Dear china.
    Stop eating everything that has a pulse and spreading new viruses on the rest of us.
    Best regards
    The world

    66
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    Mute Rkmr
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    Oct 30th 2013, 6:56 PM

    Strange because I was reading about SARS not long ago and I came across a research paper from 2005 that says the same thing. So they already knew it came from horseshoe bats? Why were they doing more research to confirm the same thing?
    http://m.pnas.org/content/102/39/14040.full

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    Mute Sim
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    Oct 30th 2013, 7:19 PM

    Because Americans inherently mistrust everybody else.

    18
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    Mute Declan Noonan
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    Oct 30th 2013, 7:21 PM

    The research team included participants from china, Australia, Singapore and the USA and you say what?

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    Mute Dermot Donnelly
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    Oct 30th 2013, 8:03 PM

    Well i would imagine its because they were looking for either antibodies for the virus or to see if the bats caught it off something else since they also found it in civets . I would doubt any virologist would just say ah right pads its the bats! all sorted now….

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    Mute Graham--
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    Oct 30th 2013, 7:00 PM

    Dirty batstards

    17
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    Mute Debi-Nikita Rathbone-Rentzke
    Favourite Debi-Nikita Rathbone-Rentzke
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    Oct 30th 2013, 7:50 PM

    The Chinese won’t be happy until they have wiped off every animal species on this world.

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    Mute Wayne Kerr
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    Oct 31st 2013, 12:42 AM

    Let me ask a reasonable question Debi-Nikita. What species of animals is it ok for humans to kill/eat/destroy/wear or is it just the Chinese that you have a problem with?

    I f*kin hate racism masked as caring. It is just trying to excuse oneself for being twisted.

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    Mute Joey JoeJoe Shabadoo
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    Oct 30th 2013, 7:40 PM

    Grand bunch of bats.

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    Mute cavanbythesea
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    Oct 30th 2013, 8:24 PM

    Next time i’ll remember to rubber up

    9
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    Mute Stephen
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    Oct 30th 2013, 7:57 PM

    Amazing creatures, if they manage to wipe out mankind no big loss .

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    Mute Michelle O Driscoll
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    Oct 30th 2013, 9:52 PM

    The state of its face! No offence..

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    Mute Gerri McCaffery
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    Oct 30th 2013, 10:55 PM

    Sooooo cute!

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    Mute Brid Macdermott
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    Oct 31st 2013, 1:41 AM

    Low standards of cuteness there!

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    Mute Paddy Murphy
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    Oct 30th 2013, 7:43 PM

    Pesky bats

    5
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