According to researchers, approximately 66,000 individuals in Southeast Asia contract SARS-related coronaviruses every year. Read on to know all about it.

At the University of the Philippines Los Banos, a recent study indicated that over 500 million people live close to areas where bat hosts of SARS-related viruses are present. The study estimates that 66,000 people in Southeast Asia contract SARS-related coronaviruses annually. The study, published in Nature Genetics, found that the potential grounds for infection from bats to people may have been "significantly overestimated" and that the study's analysis of bat species present in the region might help trace the roots of COVID-19. Here in this article, we will talk about the spread of the virus and why it affects people at such a high rate.

The study area spanned 5.1 million square meters from Southeast & South Asia to China and concentrated on 26 bat species that harbor SARS-like coronaviruses. Antibody levels of those who had recorded bat encounters were also included in the research. It has been determined that the most incredible variety of bat species that host SARS-like coronaviruses is found in the southern part of China, the northeastern part of Myanmar, Laos, and northern Vietnam. Their findings show that bat-to-human SARS-COVID-19 overflow is prevalent in the region and is most undiscovered by monitoring programs and clinical research. For future bat emergence, "these data on the area and size of spillover can be utilized to target monitoring and preventive activities.”

The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus causes COVID-19

The World Health Organization team tasked with tracing the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the paper's authors. The pandemic was initially discovered in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2018. However, the World Health Organization (WHO) stated in June that it was impossible to pinpoint when and how coronavirus initially crossed over to the global species due to the absence of data from China.

According to research published at the end of July in Science, two independent spillovers likely occurred at the Huanan fish market, where a lot of the initial cases were grouped, but live animal trafficking is still the best answer for the beginnings of the epidemic.

One way to beat the problem would be to take extra precautions with the research lab and the waste generated in the labs. Also, maintaining personal hygiene as well as awareness of the virus could help eliminate the unchecked spread of the disease.