Home>News Center>China
       
 

Wild bats: A new SARS culprit found?
By Zhang Feng (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-10-01 06:08

Scientists have identified a new, unexpected suspect in their search to find the origin of SARS wild bats.

Since the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2002-03 that killed around 800 people, scientists have tested several species of animal for coronaviruses, viruses closely related to the SARS virus, that may have sparked the epidemic.

Now research by Chinese, Australian and American scientists indicates bats not masked civets, rats or badgers as had previously been suggested may be the original hosts, Xinhua reported on Friday.

Other mammals previously suspected were only "vectors," new research suggests. They became infected with the virus and passed it on, but were not the origin of the disease.

Even so, a prominent Chinese disease expert insists it is too early to say wild bats are the definitive natural host of the virus, adding that more research needs to be done. In the study, conducted last year, researchers trapped 408 bats at four locations around China: South China's Guangdong Province, the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Central China's Hubei Province and Tianjin Municipality in North China.

Researchers then collected bats' blood, fecal and throat swabs, and analyzed their serum samples alongside DNA from fecal or throat samples tested independently using different methods in laboratories in Wuhan, Hubei's capital, and Geelong, Australia.

The coronaviruses found in bat samples were genetically diverse, but all showed some similarity to the SARS coronavirus that triggered the 2002-3 pandemic, said Li Wendong, a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The genetic similarity between the bat virus strain and the SARS coronavirus was a 92 per cent match, the report said, leading researchers to their new premise.

"The current report only raises a hypothesis that the bats might be the source of the virus," said Liu Qiyong, an expert in diseases from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

In further research, at least two things must be proved, Liu said. One is how the virus carried by bats developed into the SARS virus.

"The 92 per cent similarity may mean nothing and does not prove the bat was the original host. Even if two viruses are more than 99 per cent similar to each other, we still cannot say that they have a host relationship," Liu said. What's more, even if the virus carried by the bats is 92 per cent similar to the SARS virus, it can also develop into other kinds of viruses, Liu noted.

The second point is "proving how the virus came to the civets or other middle hosts and then to human beings," Liu added.

The new findings have been published in the online edition of the journal Science (www.sciencemag.org).

Bats are hosts of several other known viruses but rarely display clinical symptoms, Liu said. They are also increasingly present at food and traditional medicine markets in southern China and elsewhere in Asia.

(China Daily 10/01/2005 page2)



Flag raising ceremony on National Day
Chinese Premier vows to spur economic growth
Shaolin martial art demonstration
  Today's Top News     Top China News
 

China and Japan begin gas drilling talks

 

   
 

Court: Koizumi shrine visits unconstitutional

 

   
 

US delays ruling on new China textiles quotas

 

   
 

Chinese killed in Thailand's insurgent south

 

   
 

Australia hands dinosaur fossils back

 

   
 

U.S. space tourist ready to blast-off

 

   
  China's rapid economic growth will continue: OECD
   
  CPC to hold plenum in Beijing October 8-11
   
  Chinese vice premier to visit North Korea
   
  Laundering legislation to spread net wider
   
  Former Shanxi official dismissed as lawmaker
   
  Australia returns smuggled fossils to China
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  It is time to prepare for Beijing - 2008  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: 男女啪啪永久免费观看网站| 久久精品无码专区免费青青| 色吊丝av中文字幕| 国产精品久久久久久搜索 | 看一级毛片国产一级毛片| 国产中文字幕在线播放| 久久久久久久性| 国产精品无码素人福利免费| 99爱免费观看视频在线| 中文字幕22页| 韩国女友的妈妈| 国产精品无码久久四虎| 99精品国产成人一区二区| 强奷乱码中文字幕| 中文无码一区二区不卡αv| 波多野结衣xxxxx在线播放| 国产小呦泬泬99精品| 69视频免费在线观看| 天天做天天爱天天综合网2021| 一本色道久久88亚洲精品综合| 机机对机机30分钟无遮挡的软件免费大全| 亚洲精品美女久久久久9999| 精品久久一区二区| 国产成人免费高清激情明星| 一出一进一爽一粗一大视频免费的| 欧美乱大交xxxxx免费| 亚洲精品欧美精品日韩精品| 蜜柚视频网在线观看免费版| 国产成人无码精品一区不卡| ww在线观视频免费观看| 女人18一级毛片水真多| 三个馊子伦着玩小说冫夏妙晴| 日产乱码卡1卡2卡三卡四在线| 久久国产精品免费专区| 永久免费无码日韩视频| 国产va免费精品高清在线观看| 高清无码中文字幕在线观看视频| 国产欧美另类久久精品蜜芽| jizz日本黄色| 国产狂喷潮在线观看在线观看| 三级网站免费观看|