New Bat Viruses Discovered in China 'Raising Urgent Concerns'
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources.
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
Twenty new viruses have been discovered within bats in China, "raising urgent concerns" that these diseases might spill over into livestock or even humans.
Using genetic sequencing, researchers identified 22 viruses in the kidney tissues of 142 bats collected in Yunnan province between 2017 and 2021—with two being genetically similar to the deadly Hendra and Nipah henipaviruses.
The analysis also unveiled other species of bacteria and a parasite which had all previously been unknown to science.
According to the team, the bats were found roosting near fruit orchards adjacent to rural yet populated villages.
The researchers have warned that urine can serve as a transmission route in henipaviruses, raising the risk that the bats could contaminate fruit consumed by humans or animals, potentially paving the way to an outbreak.
From left: A greater bamboo bat; and an image of the Hendra virus.
From left: A greater bamboo bat; and an image of the Hendra virus.
Getty Images
The study—in particular the discovery of two previously unknown henipaviruses now named Yunnan bat henipavirus 1 and 2—marks the first full-length genomes of this virus type detected in Chinese bats.
"These viruses are particularly concerning because they were predominantly found in bat kidneys, a site linked to urine production, raising alarm about potential human exposure via contaminated fruits or water," said molecular virologist professor Vinod Balasubramaniam of Australia's Monash University in a statement.
Henipaviruses have been responsible for high-fatality outbreaks in the past. The newly identified Yunnan bat viruses share 52 to 57 percent of their genetic material with these dangerous counterparts.
Balasubramaniam said that the research highlights Yunnan as a critical region for zoonotic emergence due to how similar its climate is to Nipah-affected parts of the world, like Malaysia.
Alongside the virus discoveries, the team also reported finding a previously unknown single-celled parasite named Klossiella yunnanensis, and two highly-abundant bacterial species—one of which, Flavobacterium yunnanensis, is described for the first time.
Read more
Overlooked bat viruses may be "small step" from causing next pandemic
Overlooked bat viruses may be "small step" from causing next pandemic
While past virological studies in bats had focused on fecal samples, the study made sure to shift its attention to internal organs—especially the kidneys—due to their role in disease transmission.
The findings suggest a broader range of microbial threats may be harbored in these under-studied tissues, potentially increasing the risk of zoonotic transmission.
Bat-borne viruses have been implicated in several major zoonotic disease outbreaks, including Ebola, Marburg, SARS, MERS, and COVID-19. These pathogens can jump to humans directly or through intermediate hosts, often via ingestion of contaminated food or water.
Do you have a tip on a science story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about zoonotic viruses? Let us know via science@newsweek.com.
Reference
Kuang, G., Yang, T., Yang, W., Wang, J., Pan, H., Pan, Y., Gou, Q., Wu, W., Wang, J., Yang, L., Han, X., Chen, Y., Eden, J.-S., Holmes, E. C., Shi, M., & Feng, Y. (2025). Infectome analysis of bat kidneys from Yunnan province, China, reveals novel henipaviruses related to Hendra and Nipah viruses and prevalent bacterial and eukaryotic microbes. PLOS Pathogens, 21(6). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1013235
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Post
2 hours ago
- New York Post
China unveils eerie mosquito-sized drone designed for stealth military operations
Buzzing into enemy territory. China unveiled a mosquito-sized drone designed for covert military operations and espionage — a development that's raising alarms over the potential consequence of the tech falling into the wrong hands. The miniature device, featuring two leaf-like wings, a black vertical body, and three hair-thin legs, was engineered to mimic the blood-sucking insect by scientists at the National University of Defense Technology in China's Hunan province. 4 The miniature device has two leaf-like wings, a black vertical body, and three hair-thin legs. China NUDT 'Here in my hand is a mosquito-like type of robot,' said Liang Hexiang, an NUDT student who was holding the tiny drone between his fingers in a video shared by state media last weekend. 'Miniature bionic robots like this one are especially suited to information reconnaissance and special missions on the battlefield.' He said the hair-raising device is capable of carrying out a wide range of military and civilian missions. The nano-winged drone is equipped with ultra -miniature cameras and microphones to capture images, sounds, and electronic signals — with its tiny size rendering it nearly invisible to the naked eye and capable of flying past conventional radar system undetected. 4 The nano-winged device was designed to mimic the blood-sucking insect. China NUDT Despite the technological leap, experts warned of the serious security risks the drone could pose. 'If China is able to produce mosquito-sized drones, it would likely be interested in using them for various intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks, especially in places that larger drones struggle to access, such as indoor areas,' Georgetown research fellow Sam Bresnick told The Telegraph. 'These drones could be used to track individuals or listen in on conversations.' 4 Silhouetted figures saluting in front of a Chinese flag. REUTERS Timothy Heath, a senior defense researcher, cautioned that the micro-drone could be exploited by criminals seeking to steal personal information, including passwords, or infiltrate businesses. Heath, however, noted that the device's small size could restrict its operational range and endurance. 'To spy over a long period of time, someone would need to be willing to constantly cycle out microdrones, recharge them, and redeploy them in additional to sifting through the collected data, all within range of the target person or business,' Heath told the outlet. 4 The Jiu Tian is allegedly capable of carrying around 100 drones that can be deployed at cruising altitude. @XH_Lee23/X 'This is why the drone is less useful for battlefields but more useful for special mission operations or espionage missions.' The creepy-crawly new drone emerged just over a month after China released renderings of an aerial mothership designed to launch more than 100 drones and approximately 2,200 pounds of missiles at cruising altitude. The Jiu Tan SS-UAV has a massive 82-foot wingspan and is designed to fly above many of the medium-range defense systems around the globe.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Virus Discovery Among Bats in China Fruit Orchards Draw Exposure Concerns
Bats living among the orchards of Yunnan province in southwest China have been found harboring a variety of unknown pathogens in their kidneys, including two that are closely related to the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses. The discovery was made by a team of scientists led by Guopeng Kuang from the Yunnan Institute of Endemic Disease Control and Prevention and Tian Yang from Dali University in China, who used genetic analysis to identify microbes in 142 bats from 10 different species. They found 20 new viruses in total, along with a new bacterium and a new protozoan parasite. The viruses of concern are both henipaviruses, which are known for their long genomes and wide range of hosts. More than half of the new viruses' genes match those of the Nipah and Hendra viruses, which, while highly lethal to humans who are infected, are relatively rare among our species. It's unclear whether these two new henipaviruses have the genetic machinery to cross from bats to other species, but their similarity to known human pathogens means scientists will be keeping a close eye on them. "These viruses are particularly concerning because they were predominantly found in bat kidneys, a site linked to urine production, raising alarm about potential human exposure via contaminated fruits or water (routes implicated in previous outbreaks)," says molecular virologist Vinod Balasubramaniam from Monash University in Malaysia, who was not involved in the study. That the bats were captured in fruit orchards means that if the viruses were capable of jumping between species, humans and domestic animals would make easy targets. Related: But bats are also an important asset to orchards: they can pollinate fruits, fertilize soil, and prey on insects. For instance, 90 percent of bats in China that are insectivorous save the country's apple farmers an estimated US$2 billion in crop losses each year. As University of Sydney veterinarian and wildlife disease ecologist Alison Peel, who was also not involved in the study, points out: "We have other examples of close evolutionary cousins to Hendra and Nipah that appear not to be of any concern for spillover, so there will need to be some more laboratory studies on these new viruses to determine the actual risk." The research is published in PLOS Pathogens. Scientists Revealed How Much Exercise You Need to 'Offset' Sitting All Day Social Media Might Impair Your Recovery From Injury. Here's Why. Cat Parasite Can Seriously Disrupt Brain Function, Study Suggests
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
This growth stock just crashed 35%! Time to buy it for my Stocks and Shares ISA?
One growth stock stuck out like a sore thumb when I opened my Stocks and Shares ISA watchlist yesterday (23 June). That was Hims & Hers Health (NYSE: HIMS), which was down almost 35%, registering it's worst-ever day. This is a share I've been watching for a while, but haven't bought yet. Even after yesterday's crash, it's still up 86% over 12 months. Could this crash be an opportune time for me to nip in and open a position? Hims & Hers is a vertically integrated pharmacy and telehealth platform focused on personalised wellness. It offers prescription and over-the-counter treatments for hair loss, mental health, skincare, sexual health, and more. In 2024, the firm's revenue soared 69% year on year to $1.5bn. However, this isn't a jam-tomorrow growth story, because both net income and free cash flow more than quadrupled in Q1 of this year. Subscribers grew 38% to 2.4m. Driving some of this eye-catching growth has been compounded GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, which the firm began selling on its platform in 2024. In May, it announced a partnership with pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk to sell its blockbuster Wegovy treatment. Since that announcement, Hims & Hers stock has been rocketing. Until yesterday that is, when Novo terminated the collaboration. In a statement, the firm pulled no punches, accusing Hims of 'illegal mass compounding and deceptive marketing'. It used the words 'knock-off drugs' a number of times in relation to 'personalised' doses of semaglutide that Hims continues to sell. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Wegovy. More seriously, Novo alleges that potentially unsafe active ingredients are being sourced from foreign suppliers in China, thereby putting patients at risk. Essentially then, there are three allegations here: The continued selling of copycat versions of Wegovy, which Novo says violates regulations. Deceptive marketing of these as 'personalised' treatments. Semaglutide sourced from unapproved Chinese suppliers. In response, Hims' CEO Andrew Dudum wrote on X: 'We refuse to be strong-armed by any pharmaceutical company's anticompetitive demands that infringe on the independent decision making of providers and limit patient choice.' Dudum said Novo's management is 'misleading the public', and that the platform will continue offering access to different weight-loss treatments, including semaglutide. What to make of all this? Well, there could obviously be regulatory compliance risk here. Lawsuits appear inevitable, and there's likely at least some brand damage. Meanwhile, Novo will keep selling Wegovy with two of Hims' rivals, namely Ro and LifeMD. So the firm could lose share in the booming weight-loss space, which isn't ideal. However, there's more to the platform than just Wegovy. It was already growing strongly before GLP-1s, and its opportunity to aggregate demand in some very large health categories appears undimmed to me. It's also expanding into Europe via a recent acquisition. Hims' disruptive direct-to-consumer platform aims to be cheaper and more personalised than the traditional healthcare model. Therefore, I think shareholders should expect further industry resistance, like Uber got from taxi firms. I'd like management to reassure investors about the supply chain accusations. Ideally, this will happen when the firm reports Q2 earnings in August, if not before. But if the stock keeps falling in the coming days, I will open a starter position. The post This growth stock just crashed 35%! Time to buy it for my Stocks and Shares ISA? appeared first on The Motley Fool UK. More reading 5 Stocks For Trying To Build Wealth After 50 One Top Growth Stock from the Motley Fool Ben McPoland has positions in Novo Nordisk and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Novo Nordisk and Uber Technologies. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. Motley Fool UK 2025 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
