Coronavirus causing, the dreaded Covid19 may have been around for decades among bats. The closest known predecessor of the virus existed in bats 40-70 years ago, researchers from the University of Glasgow noted in a recent research.
The coronavirus developed potential for a human crossover for some time, the scientists said.
According to the researchers, the study posed questions on claims that the virus was created in a lab.
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Prof David Robertson of the University of Glasgow, worked on the study, published in the journal Nature Microbiology.
“That suggests that these viruses with the potential to emerge in humans have been around for some time,” Robertson said.
“We really do need to understand where or how the virus has crossed into the human population. If we now believe there is this generalist virus circulating in bats, we need to get better at monitoring that.
The professor holds that there is a need to keep an eye on the future forms of the disease in order to prevent the pandemic from re-emerging.
“If these viruses have been around for decades that means that they’ve had lots of opportunities to find new host species,” he said.
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The researchers compared the genetic structure of Sars-CoV-2 with its close relative found in bats, a virus known as RaTG13.
They then concluded that both the relatives emerged from the same ancestor, but evolved over time.
Bats are found across the world and can migrate long distances.
Scientists had earlier fingered snakes and pangolins as hosts that transmitted the coronavirus to people and caused the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
However, the bat has come up in more research than any other species as the host. It is widely believed that the virus may have spread widely among species through improper handling during illegal trafficking.
