canping-huang-phd-novel-virus-discovery-in-bat-isn-translation

pathogens, the Betacoronavirus SARS-CoV, was first identified in China and quickly spread
to other countries. At least 8000 people were infected and 800 of them died. In 2012, a
different pathogenic human Betacoronavirus, MERS-CoV, was identified in Saudi Arabia.
Despite the global effort to control the transmission of the virus, it broke out in multiple
countries in the Middle East, Europe, North America and Asia. Up until July 3, 2014, there
were 941 infection cases and 347 deaths. Meanwhile, in 2006, Yuan Guo Yong and his
colleagues from Hong Kong University identified a human infectious coronavirus
HCoVHKU1 in a patient with airway disease. These unexpected outbreaks caused by
Betacoronaviruses have posed a threat to global public health.
Notably, the current evidence indicates most (not all) of the human coronaviruses come
from bats. In 2013, Ge and fellow researchers were able to isolate a live SARS-like
Coronavirus (bat SL-CoV-WIVI) from the feces of a Rhinolophus bat from Yunnan Province.
The results of this research are the strongest evidence so far indicating that SARS
coronavirus originated in bats. It also proves that there is no need of an intermediate host
for cross-species infection. Multiple pieces of evidence indicate that the dromedary plays a
role as an intermediate host in the transmission of MERS coronavirus and bats were more
likely to be the natural reservoir of MERS coronavirus. Therefore, when there is a new
outbreak of human or other animal infection or cross-species transmitted disease, bats
should be the first group studied. The infectious outbreaks caused by bat coronaviruses
suggest virologists should focus more on the genomic diversity of coronaviruses carried by
bats.
As the figure above shows, among the four groups of Betacoronavirus, viruses in the A, B
and C groups have been shown to cause human infection. It has not yet been determined
whether the bat-related coronavirus HKU9 in group D is infectious to humans. Systematic
evolutionary analysis suggests BatCoV HKU9 and SARS-CoV are related. BatCoV HKU9 is an
important Betacoronavirus. Data from monitoring bats indicate that BatCoV HKU9 is
widespread in bat populations. Therefore, it is necessary to research the possibility of its
cross-species transmission.
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A partial translation into English of the PhD thesis: “Novel Virus Discovery in Bat and the Exploration of
Receptor of Bat Coronavirus HKU9” by Canping Huang, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,
2016. Translation completed for Independent Science News in March 2021.