Researchers collect bats to find out the origin of COVID-19
Researchers have begun collecting samples of bats in northern Cambodia in an attempt to understand the coronavirus pandemic and return to an area where a very similar virus was found in animals ten years ago.
Two specimens of horseshoe bats were collected in 2010 in Stung Treng county near Laos and kept frozen at the Pasteur de Camboge in Phnom Penh.
Tests conducted last year revealed a close link to the Corona virus, which has killed more than 4.6 million people worldwide.
An eight-member research team from the Pasteur Institute collected samples of bats and recorded their species, sex, age and other details for a week.
Similar research is being conducted in the Philippines.
"We hope that the result of this study will help the world better understand COVID-19," said field coordinator Thafri Hoym.
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