A new pathogen carried by bats has been found in flying foxes in Australia, reports The Telegraph.
The Salt Gully pathogen is related to two others, Nipah and Hendra, which the World Health Organization (WHO) has classified as “priority pathogens“.
According to the publication, there is no indication that the new virus can infect humans. However, researchers from the Australian National Science Agency cannot say for sure how the situation will develop in the future and whether its spread will lead to disease outbreaks.
“We found Salt Gully virus in bat samples dating back to 2011, which suggests that it has been circulating in the wild for more than a decade. "So we can't predict whether it will cause future outbreaks in humans or animals," said Jennifer Barr, an expert at the Australian Centre for Disease Preparedness. At the same time, she noted, experts now have the ability to develop diagnostic tests that can help detect the virus early and prevent its spread.