Differential prevalence and risk factors for infection with coronaviruses in bats collected during 2020 in Yunnan Province, China

Abstract

Coronaviruses (CoVs) pose a threat to human health globally, as highlighted by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) and the COVID-19 pandemic. Bats from the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) are an important natural reservoir for CoVs. Here we report the differential prevalence of CoVs in bats across biological and ecological factors within Yunnan Province. We also show the coexistence of CoVs in individual bats and identify an additional putative host for SARS-related CoV, with higher dispersal capacity than other known hosts. Notably, 11 SARS-related coronaviruses (SARSr-CoVs) were discovered in horseshoe bats and a Chinese water myotis bat by pan-CoV detection and Illumina sequencing. Our findings facilitate an understanding of the fundamental features of the distribution and circulation of CoVs in nature as well as zoonotic spillover risk in the One health framework.