Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1

Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1
Virus classification
(unranked): Virus
Realm: Riboviria
Kingdom: Orthornavirae
Phylum: Pisuviricota
Class: Pisoniviricetes
Order: Nidovirales
Family: Coronaviridae
Genus: Betacoronavirus
Subgenus: Sarbecovirus
Species:
Strain:
Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1
Synonyms
  • SARS-like coronavirus WIV1
  • Bat SL-CoV-WIV1

Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1 (Bat SL-CoV-WIV1), also sometimes called SARS-like coronavirus WIV1, is a strain of severe acute respiratory syndrome–related coronavirus (SARSr-CoV) isolated from Chinese rufous horseshoe bats in 2013 (Rhinolophus sinicus). Like all coronaviruses, virions consist of single-stranded positive-sense RNA enclosed within an envelope.

WIV1 was named for the Wuhan Institute of Virology, where it was discovered by a researcher on Shi Zhengli's team.

In 2018, Ralph S. Baric and Vincent Munster of Rocky Mountain Laboratories infected Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) with WIV1. SARS-CoV-2 transmits efficiently in Egyptian fruit bats.