Covid-19 News: Researchers Studying Cambodia Bats To Track Origin Of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers from Institut Pasteur du Cambodge in Phnom Penh are collecting samples from bats in northern Cambodia to track the origin of Covid-19 and understand the pandemic

Representational Image (Source: Pixabay)

New Delhi: A team of eight researchers from the Institut Pasteur du Cambodge (IPC) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, are collecting samples from bats in northern Cambodia to track the origin of Covid-19, and understand the coronavirus pandemic. 

The researchers are conducting the experiments in the same region where a very similar virus was spotted in the bats a decade ago, according to a Reuters report.

Close Relative To SARS-CoV-2

In 2010, two samples were collected from horseshoe bats in Stung Trent province near Laos. These were kept in freezers at the IPC. 

Last year, tests were performed on these samples, the report mentions. A close relative to SARS-CoV-2, which is responsible for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic and has claimed over 4.6 million lives worldwide, was revealed as a result of these tests.

In the Philippines, a research similar to the one being conducted on Cambodia bats was started early this year, and is still on. 

According to another Reuters report, researchers from the Philippine province of Laguna, who identify themselves as 'virus hunters', were catching bats in nets and collecting their swabs, saliva and faecal matter, to simulate models and “stop the next pandemic”. 

Origin And Evolution Of The Bat-Borne Virus

For one week, the researchers have been collecting samples from Cambodia bats, and are documenting information like species, sex, age, among others. 

Thavry Hoem, field coordinator for the Cambodia research, told Reuters that they were hoping to have a better understanding about Covid-19 through this study.

Symptoms of pathogens are not seen in host species such as bats, but their transmission to humans or other animals can show hugely catastrophic effects.

Dr Veasna Duong, Head of Virology at the IPC, said that four such trips had been made by the IPC in the past two years, to find clues about the origin and evolution of the bat-borne virus, the report mentions. 

He told Reuters that his team wanted to know if the virus was still out there, and how it evolved.

He added that human interference and destruction of normal habitats resulted in the devastation caused due to Covid-19. He said that the chances of the virus transforming to infect humans, and the chances of contracting the virus carried by wildlife are more, if humans try to be near wildlife. 

Determining the role of wildlife trade in the spread of this virus is another goal of the French-funded project.

Julia Guillebaud, a research engineer at IPC's virology unit, told Reuters that the project aims to obtain new information about wild meat trade chains in Cambodia, know about the diversity of betacoronaviruses circulating through the cold chains, and develop a system for early detection of events which are likely to spread viruses, the report said.

Ebola, and coronaviruses such as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) are some of the deadly viruses that originated from bats.