TOKYO, Jan 23 — A new strain of coronavirus that emerged in China may have originated in bats or snakes, according to genetic analysis of the virus that has so far killed 17 people. The theories are based on examination of the genome sequence of the virus released by authorities in the wake of...
A staff member screens arriving passengers with thermal scanners at Hankou railway station in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province on January 21, 2020. — AFP pic
The theories are based on examination of the genome sequence of the virus released by authorities in the wake of the outbreak, with two studies pointing to the likely role of bats in the outbreak., which is sponsored by Beijing’s Chinese Academy of Sciences, looked at the relations between the new strain and other viruses.
“Bats being the native host of the Wuhan CoV would be the logical and convenient reasoning, though it remains likely there was intermediate host in the transmission cascade from bats to humans,” the researchers from several institutions in China wrote in the paper. The researchers caution that their conclusions require “further validation by experimental studies in animal models”.But they could offer clues to Chinese authorities as they hunt for the source of the outbreak that has sickened hundreds of people in the country and has been confirmed as far afield as the United States.
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