A carrier of the virus that causes fatal AIDS-like disease in koalas, was bats. To such conclusion the group of scientists from Australia, Germany and Singapore, published their study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Discovered in bats, the virus is very similar to the KoRV virus, common among koalas. The effect of this virus is suppressing the immune system of animals, after which their body becomes extremely susceptible to infections and cancer.
Scientists estimate the decline in the population of Australian koalas from the action of this virus twice in the last nine years. Found in bats similar virus called pterophyllum virus Hervey (HPG).
The researchers who discovered the virus, fear not only for koalas, but for other animals, as the virus actively replicates in cultures of cells not only bats and koalas, but also in cells of other animals and even in human cells.
The results of the study, the researchers make a conclusion about the role of bats as reservoir, preserving lethal to other types of animal viruses.
