TN bat tests positive: Coronavirus found in 2 Indian bat species-ICMR

Swab samples of 25 bat species collected from Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry tested positive while samples from Karnataka, Chandigarh, Gujarat, Odisha, Punjab, and Telangana were negative.

The study published on Monday stated, bats are known reservoirs for a broad range of coronavirus and are often transmitted to humans through an intermediate host. However, it is too early to say if these coronaviruses can affect humans adversely as no such study has been conducted on the issue yet, an official source said. Earlier, the Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test conducted in bats had found the presence of Nipah viruses.

The ICMR study, carried out jointly with a team of scientists from National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, was published in the Indian Journal of Medical Research.

The study also says more detailed observation of these bats are required. The outbreak of COVID-19 disease caused by SARSCoV2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) virus has been linked to bats and pangolins, but there is no conclusive evidence yet to prove that the virus jumped from bats to humans via an intermediary species.

Roosting sites of bats were identified in these states and with the permission of state wildlife departments, the researchers trapped bats and collected their rectal and nasal swabs. Twelve bats also died in the process of trapping, the study said. A total of 508 samples of Indian Flying Fox bats and 78 samples of Rousettus bats were collected, as per the study. Of these, four samples of Rousettus samples and 21 samples of Indian Flying Fox tested positive for BtCoV. According to the results of the study, only the rectal swab samples tested positive in both species, while the throat all the swab samples tested negative.

All four of the Rousettus samples that tested positive were from Kerala. Among the 21 flying fox samples that tested positive, 12 were from Kerala, six were from Puducherry, two were from Himachal Pradesh and one was from Tamil Nadu.