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Coronaviruses closely related to the pandemic virus discovered in Japan and Cambodia

The viruses, both found in bats stored in laboratory freezers, are the first SARS-CoV-2 relatives to be found outside China.
  1. Smriti Mallapaty
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Two lab freezers in Asia have yielded surprising discoveries. Researchers have told Nature they have found a coronavirus that is closely related to SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for the pandemic, in horseshoe bats stored in a freezer in Cambodia. Meanwhile, a team in Japan has reported the discovery of another closely related coronavirus — also found in frozen bat droppings.

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Nature 588, 15-16 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-03217-0

Updates & Corrections

  • Correction 29 November 2020: This story now refers to the correct location of Zhenjiang University.

  • Correction 17 December 2020: The original version of this story stated that the bats from Cambodia were collected under the PREDICT programme. In fact, they were tested for coronaviruses under that programme, and collected by another. Duong and Hul’s role in the research has also been clarified.

References

  1. Murakami, S. et al. Emerg. Infect. Dis. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid2612.203386 (2020).

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  2. Zhou, P. Nature 579, 270–273 (2020).

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  3. Shang, J. et al. Nature 581, 221–224 (2020).

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