Researchers in Thailand have been migrating through the countryside to catch flags in their caves in an attempt to trace the origin of the coronavirus.
Early research has already pointed to bats as the source of the virus that affected more than 20.5 million people and caused the deaths of 748,000 worldwide, according to data from Johns Hopkins University
The closest match to the coronavirus was found in horse bat in Yunnan in southern China. Thailand has 19 species of horse bones, but researchers said they have not yet been tested for the new coronavirus.
Thai researchers climbed a hill in Sai Yok National Park in the western province of Kanchanaburi to set up nets to catch about 200 batons from three different caves.
The team of the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases-Health Science Center took saliva, blood and stool samples from the bats before releasing them.
The team was led by Supaporn Wacharapluesadee, the center’s deputy head, who studied bats and diseases for more than 20 years.
Supaporn sei it is likely that researchers will find the same virus that causes COVID-19 in bats of Thailand.
“The pandemic is without borders. The disease can travel with bats. It could go anywhere,” Supaporn sei.
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