Bat coronaviruses related to SARS-CoV-2 and infectious for human cells.

The animal reservoir of SARS-CoV-2 is unknown despite reports of SARS-CoV-2-related viruses in Asian Rhinolophus bats, including the closest virus from R. affinis, RaTG13 (refs. ), and pangolins.

Six Nearly Complete Genome Segments of a Novel Reovirus Identified in Laotian Batflies.

As part of the characterization of viral communities of Laotian batflies, we report here the sequencing of six nearly complete genome segments of a novel reovirus identified in Laotian batflies that is distantly related to reoviruses recently reported in various Diptera species.

New Locality Records of Ixodes granulatus and Ixodes vespertilionis (Acari: Ixodidae) From Tree-Shrews (Scandentia: Tupaiidae) and Bats (Chiroptera: Hipposideridae) in Laos.

Between May and June 2015, 512 bats, six rodents, and six tree-shrews were examined for ectoparasites in Vientiane and Khammouane Provinces, Laos. Thirty-seven ticks (33 females and four males) identified as Ixodes granulatus Supino were collected from four individuals of the Northern tree-shrew, Tupaia belangeri (Wagner) (Scandentia:Tupaiidae), and one female of Ixodes vespertilionis Koch was collected from one individual of the Intermediate Leaf-nosed Bat, Hipposideros larvatus (Horsfield) (Chiroptera:Hipposideridae). This appears to be the first record of I.

Rediscovery of Biswamoyopterus (Mammalia: Rodentia: Sciuridae: Pteromyini) in Asia, with the description of a new species from Lao PDR.

A new species of the flying squirrel genus Biswamoyopterus is described from Lao PDR. It is based on a single specimen collected from a local food market at Ban Thongnami, Pak Kading District, Bolikhamxai Province. The new taxon shows close affinities to Biswamoyopterus biswasi, which is only known from the holotype collected in 1981, 1250 km from the current locality, in Arunachal Pradesh, Northeast India.