New ‘brain-inflaming’ bat viruses in China discovered: Can it infect people? Here's what we know

Chinese researchers have discovered at least 20 new viruses in bats from China’s Yunnan province. At least two of these viruses are closely related to the deadly Nipah and Hendra viruses, raising fresh concerns about the risk of animal pathogens infecting people. The report published on Tuesday (June 25) in the journal PLOS Pathogens said that the viruses, as well as new bacterial species and a new parasite, were discovered in bats inhabiting orchards near villages in southwestern China, raising concerns about transmission to livestock or humans. Scientists have said that the viruses found "underscore critical zoonotic threats," but have not warned of any pandemic or transmission yet.

In the new study, researchers looked inside the kidneys of 142 bats from ten species, collected over four years across five areas of Yunnan province, China. Using advanced genetic sequencing, the team found 22 viruses — 20 of them never seen before. Among them were two henipaviruses closely related to Nipah and Hendra - which can cause fatal brain inflammation and respiratory illness in people, with mortality rates as high as 75%. The henipaviruses were found in fruit bats living near orchards close to human villages. Since henipaviruses can spread through urine, the study raises concerns about contaminated fruit and the risk of these viruses jumping to humans or livestock.

“These findings broaden our understanding of the bat kidney infectome, underscore critical zoonotic threats, and highlight the need for comprehensive, full-spectrum microbial analyses of previously understudied organs to better assess spillover risks from bat populations,” the authors of the report said. The authors also added: "By analyzing the infectome of bat kidneys collected near village orchards and caves in Yunnan, we uncovered not only the diverse microbes bats carry, but also the first full-length genomes of novel bat-borne henipaviruses closely related to Hendra and Nipah viruses identified in China—raising urgent concerns about the potential for these viruses to spill over into humans or livestock.”