PLoS One. Detection of novel coronaviruses in bats in Myanmar

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PLoS One. 2020 Apr 9;15(4):e0230802. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0230802. eCollection 2020.
Detection of novel coronaviruses in bats in Myanmar.


Valitutto MT¹, Aung O¹, Tun KYN¹, Vodzak ME¹, Zimmerman D¹, Yu JH¹, Win YT², Maw MT², Thein WZ², Win HH², Dhanota J³, Ontiveros V³, Smith B³, Tremeau-Brevard A³, Goldstein T³, Johnson CK³, Murray S¹, Mazet J³.

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Abstract

The recent emergence of bat-borne zoonotic viruses warrants vigilant surveillance in their natural hosts. Of particular concern is the family of coronaviruses, which includes the causative agents of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and most recently, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), an epidemic of acute respiratory illness originating from Wuhan, China in December 2019. Viral detection, discovery, and surveillance activities were undertaken in Myanmar to identify viruses in animals at high risk contact interfaces with people. Free-ranging bats were captured, and rectal and oral swabs and guano samples collected for coronaviral screening using broadly reactive consensus conventional polymerase chain reaction. Sequences from positives were compared to known coronaviruses. Three novel alphacoronaviruses, three novel betacoronaviruses, and one known alphacoronavirus previously identified in other southeast Asian countries were detected for the first time in bats in Myanmar. Ongoing land use change remains a prominent driver of zoonotic disease emergence in Myanmar, bringing humans into ever closer contact with wildlife, and justifying continued surveillance and vigilance at broad scales.



PMID:32271768DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0230802
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