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Ayon sa nangunguna sa pagsusuri na si Lyre Annie Murao, nakita nila ang virus sa long-tongued nectar bat (macroglossus minimus) pagkatapos ng halos tatlong taong pag-aaral.
Isa sa 49 na paniki ang kanilang sinuri at naging positibo sa betacoronavirus na may 2.04 percent detection rate.
Ayon sa ulat ng GMA:
"Bats have been known to be reservoir of viruses. And ibig sabihin ng reservoir, they carry the viruses in their body but they are not affected by the viruses," Murao said in an episode of Stand for Truth.
"Coronaviruses have been living with these bats for a very long time already. Interestingly, we also found out that these coronaviruses belong to a different group compared to the SARS and the MERS coronaviruses," she added.
According to Dr. Ferchito Avelino, Director of Epidemiology Bureau at the Department of Health (DOH), the novel coronavirus stemmed from the same virus family as SARS and MERS — the betacoronavirus.
"'Yung MERS, 'yung SARS, 'yung nCoV are all family ng betacoronavirus. Sila ang known to have caused mga severe type of respiratory tract infection," he said.
However, this doesn't necessarily mean that the virus found in the long-tongued nectar bat is already a threat.
Murao said the virus undergoes a mutation and adapts to the body of the host.
She advised avoiding disrupting the habitats of bats, which play an important part in ecology, being the natural pollinator of the forest.
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