JAKARTA – A research team at Laos have found a bat that carries corona virus with a close resemblance to SARS-CoV-2, which causes Covid-19. The virus is said to have a receptor-binding domain similar to Sars-CoV-2, which allows the entry of the ACE-2 enzyme into human cells.
Although the researchers did not find the SARS-CoV-2 virus in the bats studied, they did find a coronavirus that was similar, or had close mutations, to the virus.
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“A very close sequence to the early SARS-CoV-2 strain responsible for the pandemic exists in nature, and is found in several species of the bat Rhinolophus,” the authors wrote as reported by Sputnik.
This study does not completely rule out the laboratory leak theory, but adds further evidence that SARS-CoV-2 originated in nature. There is a thought that someday there will be “real evidence” of bats with SARS-CoV-2, although scientists have been warned not to stick to that idea.
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“I’m not sure we’re going to find anything in common, but what we’re going to find is a virus with pretty much the same bits,” Professor Stuart Neil, head of the infectious disease department at King’s College London – who was not involved in the study – told The Telegraph
The findings also highlight that other coronavirus-like pandemics still exist in nature. As the list of coronaviruses with similar qualities to SARS-Cov-2 grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to study the virus further in order to be prepared for the next pandemic.
(dka)
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