Scientists Detect New Virus in Australian Bats

(MENAFN) Australian scientists have detected a new virus in flying foxes, a key step in monitoring emerging infectious diseases.

The virus, named Salt Gully virus, was found in bat urine samples from Queensland and belongs to the henipavirus family, which includes the deadly Hendra and Nipah viruses. The discovery was confirmed in a statement released on Wednesday by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australia’s premier national science agency.

The virus was successfully isolated and cultured at CSIRO’s Australian Center for Disease Preparedness (ACDP) in Geelong, Victoria, in a high-security laboratory.

Henipaviruses are recognized by the World Health Organization as high-priority pathogens due to their potential for severe outbreaks. However, researchers have emphasized that there is no immediate health threat. Jennifer Barr, an experimental scientist at CSIRO’s ACDP and the study’s lead author, stated that early findings show the virus has been circulating in bats since at least 2011, with no evidence of causing illness in humans or animals.

Preliminary laboratory results indicate that Salt Gully virus infects cells in a way that differs from Hendra and Nipah, leaving its ability to cause disease uncertain.

The discovery is expected to assist in the creation of diagnostic tests, enhancing Australia’s preparedness should the virus spill over into humans or livestock, according to the study published in Emerging Infectious Diseases, a journal of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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