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FORTALEZA, Brazil – Researchers have discovered a novel coronavirus in bats in Brazil, marking the first such virus in South America closely related to Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV). The discovery, a result of collaboration between Brazilian researchers and scientists at Hong Kong University (HKU), was published in the Journal of Medical Virology (JMV).
The researchers, from the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Ceará, identified seven coronaviruses in oral and rectal swabs from five out of 16 bats collected in Fortaleza. The bats belonged to two species: Molossus molossus (an insectivore) and Artibeus lituratus (a frugivore).
“Right now we aren’t sure it can infect humans, but we detected parts of the virus’s spike protein suggesting potential interaction with the receptor used by MERS-CoV,” said Bruna Stefanie Silvério, the study’s first author. “To find out more, we plan to conduct experiments in Hong Kong during 2025.”
The discovered coronavirus shares a 71.9% genetic similarity with the MERS-CoV genome, with the spike protein exhibiting 71.74% similarity. MERS-CoV, first identified in 2012 in Saudi Arabia, has caused 858 deaths worldwide.
To determine if the novel virus can bind to human cells, high-biosecurity laboratory experiments are planned at HKU in 2025.
In a related finding, the same research team also detected a human-associated gemykibivirus-2 in one of the Molossus molossus bats, similar to a virus found in human cerebrospinal fluid and blood samples. This is the first time this virus has been identified in bats.
“Bats are important viral reservoirs and should therefore be submitted to continuous epidemiological surveillance,” said Ricardo Durães-Carvalho, the study’s last author. “This monitoring helps identify circulating viruses and risks of transmission to other animals, and even to humans.”
The researchers emphasized the importance of systematic viral analysis and data sharing to monitor and prevent potential epidemics and pandemics.
“Our studies show the importance of making this type of analysis more systematic, optimized and integrated, with several sectors participating and generating data on unified platforms that can be used by health systems to monitor and even prevent epidemics and pandemics,” said Durães-Carvalho.
Disclaimer: It is important to note that the discovery of this novel coronavirus in bats does not automatically indicate an imminent threat to human health. Further research is necessary to determine the virus’s ability to infect and cause disease in humans. The scheduled experiments at HKU in 2025 will be crucial in assessing this potential risk. This news article is for informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as a prediction of a future pandemic. Public health organizations will continue to monitor and assess the situation as more data becomes available.
