Coronavirus in China may have come from bats: studies
Beijing, Feb 3: The novel coronavirus that has claimed over 350 lives and infected thousands in China may have originated from bats, according to two latest studies published in the journal Nature on Monday.
In the first study, the researchers carried out a genome sequence of the virus associated with the respiratory disease outbreak in China, isolated from a patient working in the seafood market linked to the initial cases.
The study found that the virus was closely related to a group of SARS-like coronaviruses previously identified in bats in China.
The coronavirus outbreak, which originated in the central Hubei province of China in December, has killed 361 with 57 deaths reported on Sunday while the number of confirmed cases has climbed to 17,205. The Philippines on Sunday reported the first death outside China from the epidemic that has spread to 25 countries, including India, the US, the UK and Russia.
In China, all the deaths have been reported in Hubei Province - the epicentre of the virus outbreak. The virus was declared a global health emergency by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on January 31.
The first patient was admitted to a hospital on December 12 last year, and investigations have identified a seafood market, which also sold wild animals, in Wuhan, capital of Hubei, as the potential source of the outbreak.
Yong-Zhen Zhang and colleagues from Fudan University in China studied a 41-year-old male market worker admitted to a hospital in Wuhan on December 26, who experienced symptoms of respiratory illness, including fever, chest tightness and cough.
A combination of antibiotic, antiviral and glucocorticoid therapy was administered. However, the patient exhibited respiratory failure and his condition did not improve after three days of treatment.
The researchers performed genome sequencing on a sample of bronchoalveolar lavage fluid - a lung secretion - collected from the patient.
They identified a novel virus and found that the viral genome shared 89.1 per cent nucleotide similarity with severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-like coronaviruses from bats.
It is not possible to conclude from the analysis of a single patient that this coronavirus is the cause of the current outbreak, the researchers said.
The findings have been corroborated by independent investigations in other patients, they said.
Another study, published in Nature, carried out the identification and characterisation of the coronavirus associated with the recent outbreak, revealed similarities with SARS coronaviruses.
The analysis uncovers evidence that the coronavirus has an origin in bats, although the animal source of this outbreak has not been confirmed.
Coronaviruses have been a source of infectious disease epidemics in humans, such as SARS and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS).
SARS-related coronaviruses are mainly found in mammals such as bats and are a potential threat to public health.
As of December 2019, an outbreak of respiratory illness has been reported, originating in a seafood market in Wuhan. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath and pneumonia.
Zheng-Li Shi and colleagues from Wuhan Institute of Virology in China analysed samples from seven patients with severe pneumonia, six of whom were identified as workers from the seafood market in Wuhan, where the cases were first reported in December.
Full-length genome sequences obtained from five of these patients are found to be almost (over 99.9 per cent) identical to each other, and share 79.5 per cent sequence identity with SARS coronaviruses.
The researchers also found that the virus sequence was 96 per cent identical at the whole-genome level to a bat coronavirus, suggesting that bats are a probable source of this coronavirus.
The identification and sequencing of seven non-structural proteins also found in SARS coronaviruses demonstrates that this virus is a SARS-related coronavirus, which the authors provisionally name novel coronavirus 2019 (2019-nCoV), they said.
The researchers determined that 2019-nCoV enters cells through the same route as SARS coronaviruses, via the ACE2 cell receptor.
Antibodies isolated from patients infected with 2019-nCoV are shown to have the potential to neutralise the virus.
A previously identified horse antibody against SARS-CoV also neutralizes the virus at a low serum dilution, but whether or not anti-SARS-CoV antibodies cross-react with 2019-nCoV needs to be confirmed using serum from humans who have convalesced from SARS-CoV infection.
The researchers developed a test that can differentiate 2019-nCoV from all other human coronaviruses.
They showed that 2019-nCoV was detected in initial oral swab samples, but that subsequent samples (taken around 10 days later) did not have a positive viral result.
This finding suggest that the most likely route of transmission is through the airways of individuals, although the researchers note that other possible routes may be possible, and more patient data is needed to investigate the transmission routes further.
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Devine’s all-round brilliance trumps Nandini’s hat-trick as GG edge DC by 4 runs
Navi Mumbai (PTI): Nandini Sharma’s maiden hat-trick went in vain as Sophie Devine starred with a breathtaking 95 and a superb final over under pressure to steer Gujarat Giants to a thrilling four-run win off the last ball over Delhi Capitals in a Women’s Premier League match here on Sunday.
This was Gujarat Giants' second win on the trot, while DC slipped to their second loss.
Sent in to bat, Giants opener Devine smashed seven fours and eight sixes in her 42-ball knock, adding 94 runs for the opening wicket with Beth Mooney (19) to set the platform.
Skipper Ashleigh Gardner kept the momentum going with a brisk 49 off 26 balls, but Nandini turned the tide with remarkable figures of 5 for 33, including a hat-trick, as Gujarat were bowled out for 209.
Chasing a stiff target, opener Lizelle Lee struck a scintillating 86 off 54 balls, studded with 12 fours and three sixes. She put on 41 runs with Shafali Verma (14) before adding 90 off 55 balls with Laura Wolvaardt (77 off 38) to keep Delhi firmly in the hunt.
Once Lee was dismissed by Kashvee Gautam (1/48) in the 15th over, Rajeshwari Gayakwad removed Chinelle Henry (7) to leave Delhi at 146 for three.
Needing 64 off the last 25 balls, skipper Jemimah Rodrigues (15) joined Wolvaardt as the pair plundered 58 runs in 23 balls to bring the equation down to seven off the final five deliveries.
Devine then returned to the spotlight, dismissing both batters and conceding just two runs in the final over to seal a dramatic win.
Earlier, Devine set the tone early, striking three fours off Chinelle Henry before taking Nandini apart with two fours and a six in the fourth over. She was particularly severe on Sneh Rana, hammering two fours and four successive sixes in an over that yielded 32 runs and powered Gujarat Giants to 80 without loss in the powerplay.
The New Zealander brought up her half-century in just 25 balls before Shree Charani broke the opening stand with a sharp caught-and-bowled effort in the ninth over to remove Mooney. Devine briefly regained control, hitting Charani for three sixes, but fell in the 11th over bowled by Nandini Sharma.
Skipper Ashleigh Gardner kept Gujarat Giants on course with a brisk 49 off 26 balls, smashing four boundaries and three sixes to take the side past the 200-mark.
Jemimah Rodrigues pulled off a fine catch to dismiss Georgia Wareham (3), while Henry removed Gardner and Bharti Fulmali (3).
Nandini then capped a memorable outing by picking up four wickets in the final over, including three off the last three balls, to complete her maiden hat-trick.
