Bats in Thailand have been discovered with a new coronavirus that matches the one that causes COVID-19, scientists said.
The newly identified virus, known as RacCS203, was found in the blood of five horseshoe bats kept in an artificial cave at a wildlife sanctuary in eastern Thailand, according to a study in Nature Communications on Tuesday.
Researchers led by Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok performed genomic sequencing of the new virus.
The research determined that it shares 91.5 percent of the genetic code of Sars-CoV-2, which is the virus that causes COVID-19.
It is also very similar to another coronavirus known as RmYN02, which is found in bats in Yunnan, China, the researchers said.
But the researchers said the new virus has differences in its peak protein, making it impossible to infect human cells.
However, antibodies from the blood of infected bats and other pangolins were able to neutralize the Sars-CoV-2 virus.
The researchers said the discovery of infected bats indicates that coronaviruses are more prevalent in animals in Asia than previously known – and studying more creatures could uncover the origins of the pandemic.
“We need to do more animal surveillance,” Professor Lin-Fa Wang told the University of Singapore. “In order to find the true origin, surveillance work must go beyond China.”