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A brand new virus, a previously unknown type of henipavirus called Salt Gully virus, has been detected in bats that is related to two diseases the World Health Organization (WHO) calls “priority pathogens.” The virus was discovered in Queensland during routine wildlife surveillance.
Salt Gully virus, named after the location where it was found, is in the same virus family as Nipah and Hendra. Nipah has caused outbreaks with fatality rates usually between 40 and 70 percent, while Hendra virus leads to death in more than half of people who get it, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) said in a statement announcing the discovery of Salt Gully virus that it is only the fourth member of the henipavirus family ever to be isolated. It was discovered while a team of researchers were collecting bat urine samples.
“Once we know where the bats are likely to go, we have to prepare ourselves for collection,” said lead researcher and experimental scientist Jennifer Barr. “We wear full body personal protective equipment. It’s essential, but also can get pretty hot and uncomfortable, so you want to be ready to go once your gear is on.
“That’s when the tarps come out,” Barr continued. “We drape them under the roosting bats in the evening just before they fly out for feeding, aiming to get the tarps laid out as flat as possible. The team returns to the collection site at sunrise, once the bats have returned from feeding all night, and collect the urine before it evaporates or dries out.
“We didn’t know it at the time. But some of those samples held a virus that had never been described before.”
After returning to the lab with the bat urine samples, tests showed a sample was negative for Hendra virus, but there was “a genetic sequence that indicated the sample contained an entirely new henipavirus.”
“Now that we’ve identified the virus, diagnostic tests can be developed,” Barr added. “This means if a spillover from bats and disease outbreak were to occur, we’d have the tools to detect this virus earlier – enabling timely measures to prevent further spread.”
The scientists stated that because the Salt Gully virus does not rely on the same cell receptors as Hendra or Nipah viruses, they can’t currently predict how it will affect other species.
“It’s a reminder that viruses can circulate quietly in nature for years without causing disease,” said Barr.
Earlier this year, scientists in China raised “urgent concerns” after discovering at least 20 never-before-seen viruses in bats.