[ti:Six New Coronaviruses Found in Bats in Myanmar] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Researchers have discovered six new coronaviruses in bats [00:06.20]while studying how diseases can pass from animals to humans. [00:13.96]The scientists said the coronaviruses – found in bats in Myanmar [00:20.92]– are not closely related to the coronavirus now affecting many parts of the world. [00:29.20]The research was led by scientists from the Smithsonian's Global Health Program in Washington, D.C. [00:39.28]The findings were recently reported in a study in the publication PLOS ONE. [00:47.64]The researchers said the six new coronaviruses have never been discovered anywhere in the world. [00:57.60]The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that coronaviruses [01:06.56]"are a large family of viruses that are common in people and many different species of animals." [01:15.68]The CDC adds that it is rare for animal coronaviruses [01:21.76]to infect people and then spread among the human population. [01:28.16]However, there have been major disease outbreaks caused by coronaviruses in humans. [01:37.72]Bats have been linked to some of them. [01:41.60]The viruses responsible for diseases SARS and MERS were linked to bats. [01:50.64]The CDC says the new coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, also came from bats. [02:01.48]Health experts estimate that thousands of coronaviruses are present in bats, with many still undiscovered. [02:12.96]The Smithsonian team worked with researchers in Myanmar on a project aimed at identifying [02:21.84]new diseases that are zoonotic –meaning they can spread from animals to humans. [02:31.56]The project, called PREDICT, is supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). [02:42.76]Researchers working on the project say zoonotic diseases [02:48.40]represent about 75 percent of new diseases affecting humans. [02:55.84]One of their goals is to study how contact between humans and wildlife [03:02.68]can lead to coronavirus infections in people. [03:08.68]The team centered its research in areas where humans [03:13.56]were most likely to come into close contact with local wildlife. [03:20.20]Among the team members were representatives from Myanmar government agencies. [03:28.40]The researchers collected 759 samples of saliva and waste [03:35.32]from bats in the areas from May 2016 to August 2018. [03:43.20]After examining the samples, they identified the six new kinds of coronavirus. [03:51.08]The team also discovered a coronavirus found in other parts of Southeast Asia, [03:57.68]but never before in Myanmar. [04:01.72]Marc Valitutto is a former wildlife veterinarian with the Smithsonian's Global Health Program. [04:11.00]He was the lead writer of the study. [04:14.28]He said in a statement that widespread disease outbreaks like COVID-19 [04:21.76]should "remind us how closely human health is connected to the health of wildlife and the environment." [04:32.64]"The goal is to prevent the virus from getting into humans in the first place," Valitutto told Smithsonian Magazine. [04:43.40]He added that future research will seek to learn more about how coronaviruses behave in animals. [04:53.56]For example, what permits the viruses to mutate and spread to other species. [05:01.32]Such research can help reduce the possibility of future pandemics, Valitutto said. [05:10.80]Suzan Murray is the director of the Smithsonian's Global Health Program. [05:17.00]She said many coronaviruses do not present risks to humans. [05:24.40]However, she noted identifying them early on in animals [05:30.20]can be an effective way to investigate possible disease threats. [05:36.32]"Vigilant surveillance, research and education are the best tools we have [05:44.56]to prevent pandemics before they occur," Murray said. [05:50.88]I'm Bryan Lynn. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM