Chinese Horseshoe Bats Confirmed as Source for SARS Virus

The SARS pandemic of 2002-03, which killed hundreds of people, was caused by a virus that originated from horseshoe bats in China, an Australian research agency confirmed Thursday.

The research team led by Professor Shi Zhengli from Wuhan Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, isolated relatives of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) from horseshoe bats in China. They found that this virus was associated with the pandemic that occurred in the beginning of the century.

Their study is published in the journal Nature.

Researchers isolated the SARS-like CoV (also SL-CoV WIV1) directly from the feces of the bats. Genetic analysis showed that this bat virus is 95 percent similar to the SARS virus that causes infection in humans, BBC reported.

The SARS pandemic between November 2002 and July 2003 infected over 8,000 and killed about 770 people. The recently discovered Mers-coronavirus, too, is infecting people around the world. Why these coronaviruses are emerging now is still a mystery.

"Coronaviruses evolve very rapidly. The ones we are seeing are exquisitely evolved to jump from one species to another, which is quite unusual for a virus," Dr Peter Daszak, president of the EcoHealth Alliance and an author on the paper told BBC. So the big question is why are they emerging now?"

Nonetheless, researchers are hopeful that their study results will help design vaccines against the virus.

"The results will help governments design more effective prevention strategies for SARS and similar epidemics," The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) from Australia said in a press release.

Horseshoe bats are found in Asia and Australia. The research also shows that it is important to maintain the bats' habitat so that it doesn't invade urban areas.