In November and December 2010, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and Cambodian authorities invited researchers from the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris to explore several sites in northern Cambodia. The goal was to study the biodiversity of bats near the Temple of Preah Vihear, and a large number of bats species were caught during this survey, including eight types of horseshoe bat (genus Rhinolophus).
They are of great interest for virologists, as they are the reservoir of all Sarbecoviruses, the group of coronaviruses that includes SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2, respectively responsible for the SARS epidemic in 2002-2004 and the current Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2020, 10 years after the expedition, the samples stored in a freezer at -80°C were taken out and tested by the Institut Pasteur of Cambodia to look for Sarbecoviruses.
A PCR test showed two positive results and a full sequencing of their genome started. Two variants of…