JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Bats have been living with coronaviruses for a long time, and it turns out they could be one of the keys to finding a treatment for COVID-19 in humans. Action News Jax’s Courtney Cole speaks to Professor DeeAnn Reeder to learn how they plan to study the bat tolerances of the coronavirus. Watch the above video for details.
- Reeder said she believes bats have a very long evolutionary history with coronavirus.
- She says a perfect match for the virus that caused SARS, has been found in a bat. But they have yet to find the perfect match for COVID-19.
- The closest relative they found is a virus that is about 96% genetically identical, in a bat.
Coronavirus pandemic: Click here for updates
Florida coronavirus cases | Georgia coronavirus cases
© 2020 Cox Media Group
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/04-17-2024/t_6061b3560fca4ac9aa6b873a534bfe28_name_file_960x540_1200_v3_1_.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/BWAG42EMMNDIHKNOJAK5BB3GVU.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/NQCTWRA7OVFP5ABEQBTBAG2E3A.jpg)
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/CZ5WSKK4QJBGHG7KH4VZEO5BB4.jpg)
:quality(70)/d1hfln2sfez66z.cloudfront.net/04-16-2024/t_980912f57edf41ed844a9a1fcf0a511f_name_file_960x540_1200_v3_1_.jpg)