KANCHANABURI, Thailand (AP) – Researchers in Thailand have already moved through the countryside to catch flags in their caves in an attempt to track down the costly origin of the coronavirus.
Early research has already pointed to bats as the source of the virus that has affected more than 20.5 million people and caused the deaths of more than 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. They worked through the night and the next day, taking samples not only from horse bats but also from other bat species they caught to better understand pathogens being carried by the animals.
The team was led by Supaporn Wacharapluesadee, the center’s deputy chief, who has studied associated bats and diseases for more than 20 years. He was part of the group that helped Thailand confirm the first COVID-19 case outside China in January.
She finds it likely that she will find in bats from Thailand the same virus that causes COVID-19.
“The pandemic is limitless,” she said. “The disease can travel with bats. It could go anywhere. ”
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