Scientists trace 2002 Sars virus to colony of cave-dwelling bats in China

Genetic source found for disease that killed 750 round the world

Scientists have pinpointed a population of virus-infected bats, which they have linked to the mysterious outbreak of Sars disease 15 years ago. Hundreds died as the virus spread around the globe but its source was never traced.

Now, after years of searching across China, where the disease first emerged, researchers reported a few days ago that they had found a remote cave in Yunnan province, which is home to horseshoe bats that carry a strain of a particular virus known as a coronavirus. This strain has all the genetic building blocks of the type that triggered the global outbreak of Sars in 2002.

Continue reading... December 10, 2017 at 05:35AM