A Recently Discovered Bat Virus in Thailand: What You Need to know?

(CTN News) – At a World Health Organization (WHO) meeting, Dr. Peter Daszak—head of the contentious non-profit EcoHealth Alliance—reported a newly found bat virus in Thailand that could infect people.

Experiments in Wuhan have been linked to this research group in the past.

Local farmers in Thailand use bat Virus excrement as a fertilizer for their farms; the unknown virus was discovered in a cave there.

Potential Emergence of Bat Virus Found in Thai Bat Cave

Present at the World Health Organization event, Dr. Daszak emphasized the discovery’s importance by saying, “We found a lot of SARS-related coronaviruses, but one in particular we found was quite common in bats where people were commonly exposed.”

“We regard this to be a potential zoonotic pathogen,” he continued. Currently, in a cave frequented by humans, there is a virus in bats. Because this virus is transmitted through bat feces, a possible emergence is not out of the question.

Notably, Dr. Daszak, a scientist of British descent, has long denied the lab leak theory and insisted that the coronavirus originated in nature.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recorded a 42% spike in hospitalizations across 50 nations due to coronavirus, and this news comes as a blow to that statistic. The increase can be traced back to the JN.1 Covid variety, which was initially discovered in France in September.

Early January data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the variation currently accounts for almost 60% of new infections.

In spite of its quick growth, the World Health Organization has deemed JN.1 a “variant of interest,” meaning it presents a “low” threat to public health around the world.

The JN.1 sub-variant was formerly classified as a variation of interest (VOI) and was formerly a component of the BA.2.86 sub-lineages. Nevertheless, the World Health Organization has stressed that the risk to global public health from JN.1 is still minimal.