CHAPEL HILL, N.C., Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Researchers identified a SARS-like virus that can jump from bats to humans, though it has not done so, and there is no indication whether it can spread from human to human if it made the leap.
SARS-CoV jumped from animals to humans in 2003, causing progressively worse flu-like symptoms in about 8,000 people and killing nearly 800. No new cases of the viral illness have been reported since 2004.
"Studies have predicted the existence of nearly 5,000 coronaviruses in bat populations, and some of these have the potential to emerge as human pathogens," Dr. Ralph Baric, a professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, said in a press release. "So this is not a situation of 'if' there will be an outbreak of one of these coronaviruses but rather when and how prepared we'll be to address it."
Scientists involved with the research identified SHCC014-CoV in Chinese horseshoe bats as being able to jump between bats and humans using the same cell receptor for entry. They also demonstrated the virus can replicate well in human lung cells.
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Baric said treatments used to seemingly eradicate SARS-CoV didn't effect SHCC014-CoV, which means new treatments should be looked into with the potential for it to infect humans. He raises concerns, however, about cuts to federal government funding for gain of function research.
"Building resources, rather than limiting them, to both examine animal populations for new threats and develop therapeutics is key for limiting future outbreaks," Baric said.
The study is published in Nature Medicine.
