A coronavirus carrying a genetic feature found in the viruses that cause Covid-19 and MERS has been discovered in bats in Brazil, expanding the known global range of batborne viruses capable of jumping into other species.
The virus, named BRZ batCoV, was detected in Pteronotus parnellii — a small insect-eating “mustached” bat common across Latin America. The samples were collected in the states of Maranhao and Sao Paulo.