Recherche Fondamentale (basic research) - Surveillance de la circulation du SARS-CoV-2 dans les chauves-souris Rhinolophes au Bangladesh et génération de modèles d'étude cellulaire (SARSRhinCell) Monitoring of the circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in Rhinolophus Bats in Bangladesh and generation of cell models for in vitro studies (SARSRhinCell)

The current COVID-19 pandemic is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. This betacoronavirus, like its predecessor named SARS-CoV1, is thought to be carried by Rhinolophus bats. The territory covered by these bats extends from Japan to Great Britain. The circulation of SARS-CoV2 in Rhinolophus bats around the world and especially near China as in Bangladesh is not known. In this country where the highly lethal Nipah virus already emerges from other bats every year, the circulation of SARS-COV2 could represent a major risk of new emergence. Thus, deciphering the mechanisms of the antiviral antiviral response that allow the natural host not to develop symptoms is an unavoidable challenge today. Here we propose to assess the prevalence and the risk of emergence of SARS-CoV-2 in Bangladesh and to develop Rhinolophus sp based cellular tools which will be essential for studying the virus-natural host interactions. This study will also allow generating banks of Rhinolophus tissue, cell lines and circulating coronaviruses in Bangladesh. A better assessment of the risks of future viral outbreaks can thus be carried out.