New virus discovered in South America with pandemic-level potential
In this DML Report…
Researchers from the University of Osaka in Japan, Sao Paulo University in Brazil, and the University of Wisconsin-Madison discovered a new betacoronavirus, named BRZ batCoV, in Brazil between May and August 2019. The team captured and swabbed the intestines of 70 bats from seven species at three sites: two in Maranhao state in northern Brazil and one in Sao Paulo state in the south. The virus was detected in one Parnell's mustached bat (Pteronotus parnellii), a small insect-eating species common across South America; scientists noted likely infections in other bats due to under-sampling in the area. The effort was led by Dr. Kosuke Takada and Dr. Tokiko Watanabe.
BRZ batCoV belongs to the same betacoronavirus group as SARS-CoV-2, MERS, and the 2003 SARS virus, marking the first detection of such mutations in South American bats unrelated to SARS-CoV-2. Its genome features a furin cleavage site that differs from SARS-CoV-2 by just one amino acid, a trait critical for human infectivity. No human infections from BRZ batCoV have been reported.
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The findings, published as a pre-print on bioRxiv on October 24, 2025, state: '[This] further highlights the role of bats as potential reservoirs... relevant to zoonotic emergence [when a virus jumps from animals to humans].' Researchers added: 'Given the importance of the furin cleavage site... this finding provides important insights into the evolutionary potential and zoonotic risk of BRZ batCoV.' The study suggests bats could enable direct bat-to-human jumps, as possibly occurred with COVID-19, bypassing intermediate hosts.