New Viruses Discovered in Chinese Fruit Orchards: Concerns for Human Exposure and Bats Role in Agriculture

A team of scientists led by Guopeng Kuang from the Yunnan Institute of Endemic Disease Control and Prevention and Tian Yang from Dali University in China has made a groundbreaking discovery in the kidneys of bats living in the orchards of Yunnan province in southwest China. Using genetic analysis, the researchers identified microbes in 142 bats from 10 different species and found 20 new viruses, along with a new bacterium and a new protozoan parasite. The viruses of concern are both henipaviruses, which are known for their long genomes and wide range of hosts. More than half of the new viruses' genes match those of the Nipah and Hendra viruses, which are highly lethal to humans but relatively rare among our species. While it is unclear whether these two new henipaviruses have the genetic machinery to cross from bats to other species, their similarity to known human pathogens means scientists will be keeping a close eye on them. The discovery of these viruses in bat kidneys, a site linked to urine production, raises concerns about potential human exposure via contaminated fruits or water. The bats were captured in fruit orchards, which means that if the viruses were capable of jumping between species, humans and domestic animals would make easy targets. However, bats are also an important asset to orchards, as they can pollinate fruits, fertilize soil, and prey on insects. For instance, 90 percent of bats in China that are insectivorous save the country's apple farmers an estimated US$2 billion in crop losses each year. University of Sydney veterinarian and wildlife disease ecologist Alison Peel points out that "we have other examples of close evolutionary cousins to Hendra and Nipah that appear not to be of any concern for spillover, so there will need to be some more laboratory studies on these new viruses to determine the actual risk." The research is published in PLOS Pathogens.