Scientists have discovered a new SARS-like coronavirus in Chinese horseshoe bats, according to a new study published today in the journal Nature by a team of international researchers, including a wildlife epidemiologist from the University of California, Davis.

The research team isolated and cultured the live virus that binds to the human SARS ACE2 receptor, proving that it can be transmitted directly from bats to people.

The study describes how the team uncovered genome sequences of a new virus closely related to the SARS coronavirus, which erupted in Asia in 2002 and 2003 and caused a global pandemic crisis.

The research is the first time that scientists have been able to isolate a live SARS-like virus from bats. It will allow them to conduct detailed studies to create control measures to thwart outbreaks and provide opportunities for vaccine development.

“This work shows that these viruses can directly infect humans and validates our assumption that we should be searching for viruses of pandemic potential before they spill over to people,” said co-author and UC Davis professor Jonna Mazet, co-director of PREDICT, a project of USAID’s Emerging Pandemic Threats program. PREDICT, which partially supported the study, is designed to target surveillance of wildlife populations and identify potential pandemic viruses before they emerge. Mazet is also director of the One Health Institute and Wildlife Health Center at the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine.

Coronaviruses are common viruses that usually cause mild to moderate upper-respiratory tract illnesses. The SARS coronavirus causes severe acute respiratory illness and can infect people and animals.

During the original SARS outbreak in the wet markets of Guangdong province in China, it was thought that bat viruses first infected civets — small mammals native to tropical Asia and Africa — and then evolved to infect people through this intermediate host. The current breakthrough suggests that SARS may have originated from one of these bat viruses, precluding civets from playing a part in the human infection process.

“We have been searching for this missing link for 10 years, and finally we’ve found it,” said co-senior author Zhengli Shi from the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China.

The results are based on genetic analyses of live samples taken over the course of a year from members of a horseshoe bat colony in Kunming, China. At least seven different strains of SARS-like coronaviruses were found to be circulating within the single group of bats.

“The discovery that bats may directly infect humans has enormous implications for public health control measures,” said co-senior author Peter Daszak, president of EcoHealth Alliance, which led the international effort, including scientists in China, Australia, Singapore and the United States. “Our research here uncovered a wide diversity of potentially pandemic viruses present, right now, in bats in China that could spill over into people and cause another SARS-like outbreak. Even worse, we don’t know how lethal these viruses would be if such an outbreak erupted.”

Daszak said the study carries lessons for the recent outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, which likely originated in Saudi Arabian bats. He said bat habitats need to be protected from severe human-induced changes to the environment, and that public health measures need to be created to reduce the risk of transmission.

It is not uncommon for bats to be a food source for many people in China and other parts of Asia.

The findings highlight the importance of research programs targeting high-risk wildlife groups in emerging disease hotspots to predict, prepare for and prevent pandemics.

“That USAID has designed and implemented such an innovative approach through their Emerging Pandemic Threats program is very forward-thinking,” Mazet said of PREDICT. “We may finally begin to get ahead of the curve and prevent pandemics.”

The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health/National Science Foundation Ecology and Evolution of Infectious Diseases grant and USAID Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT initiative. Additional funding came from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, China’s State Key Programs for Basic Research, and National Natural Science Foundation of China.

The study, “Isolation and characterization of a bat SARS-like coronavirus that uses the ACE2 receptor,” is available at the Nature website.

About the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine

UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine serves as an international leader by providing educational, research, clinical and public service programs of the highest quality to advance the health of animals, people and the environment. Its One Health Institute and Wildlife Health Center manage One Health programs for people and animals ranging from the Pacific Northwest to Africa’s Congo Basin and Rift Valley.