ICMR reports coronaviruses in two species of Indian bats

Aditi Tandon

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, April 14

India today reported presence of coronaviruses (CoVs) in two species of local bats, with the majority of positive samples linked to Kerala and the rest to Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry and Tamil Nadu.

The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) screened samples from Rousettus and Pteropus species of Indian bats from 10 states and found 25 of these samples positive for CoVs.

The 10 states/UTs were Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Gujarat, Odisha, Telangana, Chandigarh and Puducherry.

“Our study showed pathogenic CoVs in two species of Indian bats. There is a need for proactive surveillance of zoonotic infections in bats. Such surveillance will provide leads for the development of diagnostic and help us prepare better for emergent viruses, thereby quickly containing them,” the ICMR said today.

The research titled “Detection of coronaviruses in Pteropus and Rousettus species of bats from different states of India” comes when the world is battling Covid-19 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) suspected to have a strong association with bats.

Bats have been recognised as natural reservoirs of pathogenic viruses like rabies, Hendra, Marburg, Nipah and Ebola.

They also harbour coronaviruses (CoVs), which have earlier been detected in bats in other Asia countries, Europe, Africa, North and South America and Australia.

In the last two decades, bat coronaviruses have gained considerable attention as potential human pathogens. SARS-CoV-2 causing the current pandemic is also a member of this same genus (CoVs) and is found to be similar to certain bat-derived CoV strains. Related viruses have already been sampled in bat populations in China.

The ICMR’s National Institute of Virology at Pune earlier found several viruses in bats, including Nipah virus in Pteropus medius.

“Nipah viral RNA antibodies could be detected in Pteropus bats from many states and the possible link of transmission from bats could be established during the Nipah outbreak in Kerala in 2018 and 2019,” the ICMR says. This is the first time the ICMR has detected CoVs in Indian bats. New CoVs in bats have earlier been found in China, Sri Lanka and Singapore in Asia.

Rectal swabs screened

• ICMR researchers screened 78 rectal swabs from Rousettus bats for CoVs and found four positive. All four belonged to Kerala
• From Pteropus bats, 508 rectal swabs were sampled and screened and 21 were detected positive for CoVs
• Of 21, 12 belonged to Kerala, two to Himachal, six to Puducherry and one to TN