20 New Bat Viruses Discovered In China, Some Similar to Deadly Nipah And Hendra

China: After COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus, discovered in China's Wuhan, that devasted mankind globally in 2020, scientists have discovered 20 new viruses in bats from China's Yunnan province.

Two of these viruses are frighteningly similar to deadly viruses called Hendra and Nipah. These have caused serious outbreaks in humans and animals in the past.

How Was the Discovery Made? 

The research was published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS Pathogens. It involved collecting kidney tissue samples from 142 bats between 2017 and 2021.

The genetic testing used in this process helped identify unknown viruses, bacteria, and even a new parasite.

The bats used in the study were roosting near fruit orchards close to villages in rural Yunnan. If the bats' urine contaminates fruits that people or farm animals eat, there will be an increased risk of spillover, a process where a virus can jump from animals to humans.

Why Study Bats' Kidney?

Bat kidneys are not a well-studied area in Biology. Earlier research focused on bat feces but the research had to be broadened since bats are known to carry many viruses and microbes that can infect humans, either directly or through other animals, often through food or water contaminated by bat waste.

Bats have been linked to the spread of diseases like Ebola, SARS, MERS, and even COVID-19, in the past so the aspect could not have been overlooked.

An understanding of what lives in bat organs like kidneys can help scientists better predict and prevent future disease outbreaks, especially when the Yunnan region has a climate similar to areas where Nipah outbreaks have happened before, like Malaysia.

Why Should You Worry About The New Virus? 

Since some of the new viruses were found in bats' kidneys, there is a high chance it would have contaminated fruits or water if any of the bats urinated in the orchards or water sources.

People or animals who eat those fruits or drink water from that particular water source can be at high risk of infection.

Explaining why this raises alarm, molecular virologist Professor Vinod Balasubramaniam from Monash University in Australia said, "These viruses are particularly concerning because they were predominantly found in bat kidneys, raising alarm about potential human exposure via contaminated fruits or water."

The two of the new henipaviruses have been named, Yunnan bat henipavirus 1 and 2, and share 52% to 57% of genetic material with the lethal Hendra and Nipah viruses.

In the past, these viruses have been known to cause severe brain infections and high death rates in both people and animals.

Other Organisms Found During The Research 

Apart from the 20 new viruses found during the research, scientists have also found a new single-celled parasite, named Klossiella yunnanensis, and two common bacterial species, including one that has never been described before, called Flavobacterium yunnanensis. 

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