FACTS:
New studies have found the emergence of 400+ new coronaviruses in bats throughout Southeastern Asia. Â The studies are ongoing, by way of capturing free-ranging bats, which are then subjected to rectal & oral swabs, and guano samples collected for coronaviral screening. In addition to testing the bats, humans are testing positive for some of these new strains. “Spillovers”, where the coronaviruses are actively spilling over into the human population, are being found in areas where human populations border the infected bat populations.
QUOTES:
Kevin Olival, disease ecologist testing the bats on behalf of nonprofit research group EcoHealth Alliance:
“We found evidence for, in total, from all the sampling we did in China, about 400 new strains of coronaviruses.” … “What we showed was that SARS-related viruses in these bat populations have the potential to go directly into human cells and do not need that extra mutational step [of] infecting another host.” … “These bat SARS-related coronaviruses are actively spilling over in the human population.”
SOURCE:
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