Chinese survey and database on important new viruses ‘delayed by red tape’
- Project was approved last year but interrupted by coronavirus pandemic, and now it’s in limbo waiting for final authorisation, researcher says
- Scientists plan to investigate viral pathogens carried by wild animals such as bats, rats, birds and insect vectors like ticks and mosquitoes across China
A Chinese survey and database of pathogenic viruses that infect animals and sometimes jump to humans was authorised last year, but a researcher says it has been delayed by red tape.
It is being led by virologist and evolutionary biologist Zhang Yongzhen, from the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, according to a researcher involved in the application who will lead part of the project and requested anonymity.
The investigation is to focus on viruses of natural-focal infectious diseases, which are transmitted among animal hosts and vectors but can sometimes be passed on to humans. These include Lyme disease, caused by bacteria carried by ticks, and Ebola, which is thought to be passed from bats to humans and spread by direct contact with the blood or body fluids of someone who is infected.
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Zhang plans to lead more than four dozen researchers from nine Chinese institutions on the project. They will spend four years systematically screening viral pathogens carried by wild animals such as bats, rats, birds and insect vectors like ticks and mosquitoes across China, according to the researcher.
