Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1


Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1, also sometimes called SARS-like coronavirus WIV1, is a strain of Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus isolated from Chinese rufous horseshoe bats. Like all coronaviruses, virions consist of single-stranded positive-sense RNA enclosed within an envelope.

Zoonosis

The discovery confirms that bats are the natural reservoir of SARS-CoV. Phylogenetic analysis shows the possibility of direct transmission of SARS from bats to humans without the intermediary Chinese civets, as previously believed.