About 66,000 people in Southeast Asia become infected with the virus every year coronaviruses related SARS and almost 500 million people live close to the environment where they meet the bats hosts of these viruses, according to a study published today.

OUR research workwhich was published in the scientific journal Nature Communications, notes that bat-to-human transmission of the virus is likely “greatly underestimated” and adds that recording bat species in the area could help determine the origin of the virus. COVID-19.

The researchers focused on 26 bat species known to act as hosts. coronaviruses type of SARS on an area of ​​5.1 million square kilometers, stretching from China to Southeast and South Asia.

They then included data on antibody levels among people who reported exposure to the bat.

South China, Northeast MyanmarLaos and northern Vietnam have been characterized as areas with the highest diversity of host bat species. coronaviruses type of SARS (SARS-CoV).

“We estimate that an average of 66,000 people become infected with the virus each year. SARS-CoV in Southeast Asia suggests that bat-to-human transmission of these viruses is common in the region and in most cases goes unnoticed by surveillance programs and clinical studies,” the researchers wrote.

“This information about the geography and extent of transmission can be used to target programs to monitor and prevent potential outbreaks in the future. coronavirus associated with bats,” the study notes.

OUR COVID-19 caused by his stress coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

AT researchers – authors studies include it Peter Dashjackmember of the World Health Organization (WHO) team that investigated its origins. COVID-19 and at the beginning of last year he visited her Wuhanwhere the pandemic was first identified in late 2019.

The WHO said in June that the lack of data from China makes it difficult to determine when and how coronavirus first passed to the human population.

A study published in the scientific journal Science in late July notes that the wildlife trade remains the best explanation for the origin of the pandemic, as two different sources of transmission likely occurred in the fish market. Huanan in the town Wuhanwhere many of the first cases occurred.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters}