Bats Are Natural Reservoirs of SARS-like Coronaviruses. Science, 2005, 310: 676-679.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) emerged in 2002 to 2003 in southern China. The origin of its etiological agent, the SARS coronavirus (SARS-CoV), remains elusive. Here we report that species of bats are a natural host of coronaviruses closely related to those responsible for the SARS outbreak. These viruses, termed SARS-like coronaviruses (SL-CoVs), display greater genetic variation than SARS-CoV isolated from humans or from civets. The human and civet isolates of SARS-CoV nestle phylogenetically within the spectrum of SL-CoVs, indicating that the virus responsible for the SARS outbreak was a member of this coronavirus group.In summary, the data presented here provide serological and molecular evidence for the existence of a group of novel bat-borne viruses closely related to SARS-CoV, and strongly suggest that bat is the reservoir host of SARS-CoV. The relatively high seroprevalence in certain Rhinolophus species over a wide geographical area is consistent with a reservoir population naturally infected with an endemic virus. The presence of related cave-dwelling bat species in wild animal markets may provide one of transmission pathways for the spill-over of these viruses into other species.