Isolation of Bat Sarbecoviruses, Japan
Shin Murakami, Tomoya Kitamura, Hiromichi Matsugo, Haruhiko Kamiki, Ken Oyabu, Wataru Sekine, Akiko Takenaka‐Uema, Yuko Sakai‐Tagawa, Yoshihiro Kawaoka, Taisuke Horimoto
Abstract
H uman betacoronaviruses are divided into 2 pathotypes: endemic viruses, such as human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) and HCoV-HKU1, which cause mild respiratory symptoms (1), and highly pathogenic viruses comprising severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and SARS-CoV-2, which have caused outbreaks in the past 2 decades (1,2). Because all these highly pathogenic human betacoronaviruses are considered to have originated from bat-derived viruses (2-6), surveillance of bat betacoronaviruses is crucial for understanding and assessing the spillover potential of betacoronaviruses in humans.