Thai researchers are collecting samples from bats to test if they could also carry a novel coronavirus, similar to what bats in China were found to have. The results could help answer the mystery over the origin of the Covid-19 virus.
Earlier research has pointed in the direction of bats as they are hosts to a number of coronaviruses, which include relatives to SAR-Cov-2 found in horseshoe bats in Yunnan, China.
Thailand has 19 species of horseshoe bats but researchers here claim work to test them for the novel coronavirus has never been done.
Prateep Duengkae, a professor from Kasetsart University, is leading the research.
He believes this research could create a better understanding about the virus itself and help the government assess if there are risks for local residents.
“The virus that caused the outbreak in Thailand comes from outside the country, but what we don’t know is whether or not in Thailand, where we also have horseshoe bat population, the same species found in China to carry the virus, whether or not the bats here carry the same virus. This is urgent work and the answer will help us better manage the risk of Covid-19 in our country,” he says.
The field team is headed by Supaporn Wacharapluesadee, an infectious diseases expert from Chulalongkorn University.
She and her team take saliva, blood and stool samples from the bats before releasing them.
Supaporn has studied bats and their associated diseases for over 20 years. She was part of the team that helped Thailand confirm the first Covid-19 case outside China.
Supaporn believes there’s a high chance the bats in Thailand will carry a novel coronavirus similar to the one that caused Covid-19.
“Currently, there is only research coming out from China. There is a chance that we could find the same virus that caused Covid-19, or SARS-CoV-2 here as well because we have the same species of bats found in China. The probability is high. So, if our research finds the virus, or a link to it, then this will be part of a puzzle helping answer questions that researchers in China or around the world are looking for – the origins of this virus.”
The researchers work through the night and the next day, taking samples from horseshoe and other bat species they find in the caves to find out what other diseases they’re harboring.
Many species of bats found in Thailand can also be found in the neighbouring countries of Myanmar, Laos, and Vietnam. Supaporn hopes that researchers could one day work at a regional level.
“It is important that we research and prepare for the risk on a regional level, to increase efficiency and to be better prepared. The pandemic is borderless. The diseases can travel with bats. It could go anywhere,” she says.
These researchers hope their studies will not only provide a greater understanding of SAR-CoV-2, but will also help Thailand prepare its own pandemic prevention plan.
Patarapol Maneeorn, a veterinarian working with the research team, says residents living near the caves, farmers whose farms are visited by fruit-eating bats, and locals who may consume bats as food also need to be informed.
“The results of the research and the information that we could get will be processed and we will use that information to communicate to the public, especially those who are considered high-risked groups because these are the people that could cause an impact on others around the world. This concerns not only one person, or a nation. This concerns everyone in the world,” he says.
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