Thailand researchers collected samples from horseshoe bats to test them for coronavirus

As some of the countries are continuing to witness a surge in COVID-19 cases, researchers in Thailand have started collecting samples from horseshoe bats to test them for the novel coronavirus. According to reports, the Thai government has said on June 13 that they plan to collect at least 300 bats over the course of three days from a cave in the Chanthaburi province in the southeast part of the country. The bats will be released after the collection of the samples.

Since the exact source of the novel coronavirus which has rocked the world after it was discovered in China in December 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had said in April that the pathogen appears to have originated from bats. However, it still remains unclear how the novel coronavirus was transmitted from bats to humans. Thailand has at least 23 species of horseshoe bat but this is the first time they are being investigated. The research team carrying out this study reportedly includes Supaporn Wacharapluesadee who had identified the first positive case of COVID-19 in the country in January.

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What is the reason behind the research?

Supaporn has said that the reason behind the research and collecting the samples of horseshoe bats is that there have been reports from China that the COVID-19 virus is similar to a pathogen found in the horseshoe bat. Outside China. Thailand was the first country to have confirmed the case of coronavirus infection.

In a bid to inquire more about the coronavirus, researchers from the National Parks Department, Chulalongkorn Hospital and Kasetsart University entered Tham Sado in Pong Nam Ron district of Chanthaburi on the evening of June 11 and got out on June 12 with the samples of bat blood, saliva and blood. 

So far it has recorded at least 3,135 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 58 deaths according to Johns Hopkins University tally. But the nation has not recorded any case of local transmission since the last 19 days.

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(With agency inputs)

(Image Source: AP)