A new SARS-like virus found in Chinese horseshoe bats may be poised to infect humans, according to a new study. The researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill have found that the newly identified virus, known as WIV1-CoV, could bind to the same receptors as SARS-CoV – that infected thousands in 2002. They also showed that the virus readily and efficiently replicated in cultured human airway tissues, suggesting an ability to jump directly to humans.
The research, led by Ralph Baric, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, comes on the heels of two recent high-profile outbreaks – Ebola and Zika – which have no vaccines.
“The capacity of this group of viruses to jump into humans is greater than we originally thought,” said Vineet Menachery, Ph.D., the study’s first author, adding, “While other adaptations may be required to produce an epidemic, several viral strains circulating in bat populations have already overcome the barrier of replication in human cells and suggest reemergence as a distinct possibility.”
Menachery furthur said, “To be clear, this virus may never jump to humans, but if it does, WIV1-CoV has the potential to seed a new outbreak with significant consequences for both public health and the global economy.”
Researchers discovered how antibodies developed to treat SARS worked effective in both human and animal tissue samples against WIV1-CoV, providing a potent treatment option if there were an outbreak.
SARS, short for a severe acute respiratory syndrome, was first seen in an outbreak in 2002 and resulted in 8,000 cases and nearly 800 deaths. Spread through airborne contact, its onset presents symptoms similar to the flu with a dry cough but can accelerate rapidly to pneumonia, filling the lungs with fluid and putting extreme stress on the body’s immune system.
The study is published in the journal of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.