Knowledge of the origin and reservoir of the coronavirus responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is still fragmentary. To date, the closest relatives to SARS-CoV-2 have been detected in Rhinolophus bats sampled in the Yunnan province, China. Here we describe the identification of SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses in two Rhinolophus shameli bats sampled in Cambodia in 2010. Metagenomic sequencing identifies nearly identical viruses sharing 92.6% nucleotide identity with SARS-CoV-2. Most genomic regions are closely related to SARS-CoV-2, with the exception of a region of the spike, which is not compatible with human ACE2-mediated entry. The discovery of these viruses in a bat species not found in China indicates that SARS-CoV-2 related viruses have a much wider geographic distribution than previously reported, and suggests that Southeast Asia represents a key area to consider for future surveillance for coronaviruses. In this study, Delaune et al., isolate and characterise a SARS-CoV-2-related coronavirus from two bats sampled in Cambodia. Their findings suggest that the geographic distribution of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses is wider than previously reported.
【저자키워드】 SARS-CoV-2, Epidemiology, molecular evolution, metagenomics, 【초록키워드】 viruses, Coronaviruses, coronavirus, COVID-19 pandemic, Sequencing, Asia, China, Surveillance, bat, distribution, metagenomic sequencing, nucleotide, Geographic distribution, identity, genomic region, these viruses, related viruses, reservoir, MOST, responsible, identify, virus, reported, coronavirus, indicate, related virus, 【제목키워드】 bat,