When the whole world is currently struggling to fight against COVID-19,researchers have discovered six new coronavirus in Myanmar-based bats.The viruses are said to be in the same family as the SARS-CoV2 that causes COVID-19, but are not genetically associated to the current pandemic.
The new viruses were found in three different species: the Great Asiatic yellow house bat, the wrinkle-lipped free tailed bat and the Horsefield’s leaf-nosed bat. The six new coronaviruses were then given names: PREDICT-CoV-9, which is found in the Greater Asiatic yellow house bat, the PREDICT-CoV-82 and the PREDICT-CoV-47, which were from the wrinkle-lipped free-tailed bat, and the PREDICT-CoV-92, PREDICT-CoV-93, and the PREDICT-CoV-96, which were found from the Horsefield’s leaf-nosed bat.
The team notes that further studies will be required to find out if the novel coronaviruses have ‘the potential for transmission across species to better understand the risks to human health’.
Though it is not necessary that every virus discovered in animals is a threat to human life but identifying them on time gives us opportunity to find out even the slightest possibility of potential threat.
Until December 2019, nobody was aware about the SARS-CoV-2, when the first case of COVID-19 made headlines in China and the rest of the world too.
Since then, the novel virus has affected a total of 2,000.231 people worldwide and has claimed lives of 126,758.
