Two new viruses in bats threaten a pandemic greater than COVID-19.

Arab Weather - Specialist scientists have warned of the discovery of two new types of viruses endemic to bats, describing them as "extremely dangerous," stressing that their transmission to humans could pave the way for a new pandemic that could be more devastating than the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the British newspaper, the Daily Mail, researchers have discovered a virus that can cause severe encephalitis, and another that can lead to fatal respiratory diseases, both of which were found in bats in the Yunnan region of southern China.

The two viruses are closely related to the Nipah and Hendra viruses, which are known to be extremely dangerous to humans and for which there is currently no cure or vaccine.

Virus transmission to humans

The researchers, from the Yunnan Institute for Endemic Disease Control and Prevention, explained that these findings "highlight the serious zoonotic threats and underscore the need for extensive microbial analyses to understand the severity of bat-to-human transmission."

As part of the study, the kidneys of 142 bats from 10 different species were analyzed over four years using advanced genetic sequencing techniques. Scientists found 22 viruses, 20 of which were discovered for the first time, and two of which are of particular concern due to their genetic similarity to Nipah and Hendra.

The two viruses were detected in a species of fruit bat known as Rousettus leschenaultia, which lives near orchards and residential villages in the province.

Fruit-borne transmission

The scientific team noted that Henipa viruses can be transmitted through urine, raising concerns about the potential contamination of fruit grown near bat colonies, potentially transmitting the infection to humans or livestock.

“Not only have we discovered the diverse microbes carried by bats, but we have also identified, for the first time, the full-length genomes of novel Henipaviruses from China, which are closely related to the Hendra and Nipah viruses, which are known to pose a public health threat,” the researchers wrote in their report.

Warehouse of invisible epidemics

Bats are among the most prominent natural reservoirs for a wide range of microorganisms, including viruses that have caused epidemics in humans, such as SARS and COVID-19. This makes the new discovery a source of global concern regarding the potential outbreak of a new disease.

Source: Roya.