'It remained unnoticed for decades': scientists have found out how SARS-CoV-2 originated and why it infects people

A few months after the start of the coronavirus pandemic, scientists are still figuring out how the new coronavirus spread from animals to humans. According to a study published in the journal Nature Microbiology, a group of scientists may have found the answer to a question that many have been asking for months. Fox News.

Photo: Shutterstock

A team of scientists from the United States, China, and Europe have compared the mutation patterns of SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) with other viruses and created a history of the evolution of related viruses. They found that the lineage responsible for the production of the virus that caused the COVID-19 pandemic is present in bats.

“Analyses indicate that bats are the main reservoir of the SARS-CoV-2 lineage. Although it is possible that pangolins or other as yet undiscovered species could act as intermediate hosts to facilitate transmission of the virus to humans, current evidence is consistent with the virus evolving in bats. This has led to the emergence of bat sarbecoviruses that can replicate in the upper respiratory tract of both humans and pangolins,” the published report said.

The research team reported that the new coronavirus originated from other bat viruses 40-70 years ago.

“The lineage giving rise to SARS-CoV-2 has remained undetected in bats for decades,” the authors write.

On the subject: Confusion and delirium: scientists have figured out how COVID-19 attacks the brain

The researchers said SARS-CoV-2 is genetically similar (about 96%) to the RaTG13 coronavirus found in a 2013 sample of the horseshoe bat Rhinolophus affinis in Yunnan, China. Also, the new coronavirus shares a common trait with older members of its lineage regarding the receptor binding domain (RBD) in its spike protein, which allows it to bind to human receptor cells.

“Its receptor-binding motif appears to be an ancestral trait shared with bat viruses rather than a recently acquired one,” the study said.

“This means that there are other viruses circulating among horseshoe bats in China that can infect people,” said study co-author David Robertson, professor of computational virology at the MRC Virus Research Center at the University of Glasgow.

The authors stated that other groups of researchers were wrong in suggesting that the evolutionary changes that occurred in pangolins allowed the new coronavirus to be transmitted to humans. According to Robertson, the SARS-CoV-2 RBD sequence has so far been found in only a few pangolin viruses.

On the subject: Scientists explain why men die from COVID-19 one and a half times more often than women

The authors note that systems for monitoring human diseases in real time and better sampling in bats are needed to detect new infectious microorganisms and prevent future pandemics.

“The key to successful surveillance,” Robertson said, “is knowing which viruses to look for and prioritizing those that can easily infect people. We need to be better prepared for the emergence of a second SARS virus.”

Read also on ForumDaily:

172 strange symptoms of COVID-19 survivors

How the top US infectious disease specialist strengthens immunity and protects against coronavirus

Unbearable Medical Bills: What You Can Do To Get Help Paying

New payments: US lawmakers have proposed another financial aid plan in connection with COVID-19

Do you want more important and interesting news about life in the USA and immigration to America? — support us donate! Also subscribe to our page Facebook. Select the “Priority in display” option and read us first. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our РєР ° РЅР ° Р »РІ Telegram  and Instagram- there is a lot of interesting things there. And join thousands of readers ForumDaily New York — there you will find a lot of interesting and positive information about life in the metropolis.