Coronaviruses closely related to the pandemic coronavirus discovered in Japan and Cambodia
The viruses, both found in bats stored in laboratory freezers, are the first SARS-CoV-2 relatives to be found outside China.
A coronavirus related to SARS-CoV-2 has been found in Shamel’s horseshoe bats captured in Cambodia in 2010. Meanwhile, a team in Japan has reported the discovery of another closely related coronavirus — also found in frozen bat droppings.
