Thai scientists catch bats to trace coronavirus origins

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Thai scientists catch bats to trace coronavirus origins

Closest match to the coronavirus has been found in horseshoe bats in southern China

Published: August 15, 2020 15:54 AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — Kanchanaburi, Thailand: Researchers in Thailand have been trekking though the countryside to catch bats in their caves in an effort to trace the murky origins of the coronavirus. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — Initial research has already pointed to bats as the source of the virus that has afflicted more than 20.5 million people and caused the deaths of over 748,000 worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — The closest match to the coronavirus has been found in horseshoe bats in Yunnan in southern China. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — Thailand has 19 species of horseshoe bats but researchers said they have not yet been tested for the new coronavirus. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — Thai researchers hiked up a hill in Sai Yok National Park in the western province of Kanchanaburi to set up nets to trap some 200 bats from three different caves. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — The team from the Thai Red Cross Emerging Infectious Diseases-Health Science Center took saliva, blood and stool samples from the bats before releasing them. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — They worked through the night and into the next day, taking samples not only from horseshoe bats but also from other bat species they caught in order to better understand pathogens carried by the animals. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — The team was headed by Supaporn Wacharapluesadee, the center's deputy chief, who has studied bats and diseases associated with them for more than 20 years. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — He was part of the group that helped Thailand confirm the first COVID-19 case outside China in January. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — She believes it is likely they will find in Thailand's bats the same virus that causes COVID-19. "The pandemic is borderless," she said. "The disease can travel with bats. It could go anywhere" Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — A researcher swabs a bat's mouth to take samples at Sai Yok National Park in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand. Image Credit: AP

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Thailand Bat Catchers — A researcher measures a bat inside Sai Yok National Park in Kanchanaburi province, west of Bangkok, Thailand Image Credit: AP

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