China’s ‘Bat Woman,’ U.S. Scientists Trace Coronavirus to Horseshoe Bats

What’s New: An international group of scientists tracing the origins of the novel Covid-19 coronavirus said a specific type of bats may have played a crucial role in the evolution of the deadly pathogen that has sickened 6.3 million people globally.

Jointly led by Peter Daszak, president of the U.S.-based nonprofit organization EcoHealth Alliance, and Shi Zhengli, the well-known bat researcher at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, the study examined genetic sequences of more than 700 coronaviruses found in bats in China, according to a preprint paper published on bioRxiv Sunday.

Although researchers didn’t reach a conclusion on the origin of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, they found that one genus of bats, Rhinolophus — also known as horseshoe bats — played a key part in the evolution of the virus.

Closer studies of coronaviruses in bats, especially those in southwest China which hosts a wide variety of bats, are needed to prevent the next massive outbreak, the researchers said in the paper.

More to Know: The study is the latest advance as global scientists race to figure out the origin of the new coronavirus that emerged late last year.

Previous studies have pointed to different wild animals including pangolins as possible origins of the virus. But the study led by Daszak and Shi found that coronaviruses in horseshoe bats are more likely to be linked to those in humans. The team captured hundreds of bats in several Chinese provinces and took oral and rectal swabs from them between 2010 and 2015 in a comprehensive analysis to map out a family tree of bat coronaviruses.

Further studies may face funding obstacles as the U.S. National Institutes of Health recently cut its grant to EcoHealth Alliance, the funding source of the study. The move prompted an outcry in the scientific community.

Quick Takes are condensed versions of China-related stories for fast news you can use. To read the full story in Chinese, click here.

Related: China’s ‘Bat Woman’ Warns Coronavirus Is ‘Just Tip of the Iceberg’

Contact reporter Han Wei (weihan@caixin.com) and editor Bob Simison (bobsimison@caixin.com)