Coronaviruses Detected in Bats in Rwanda’s Famous Tourism Caves

Neighbouring Rwanda’s 12million strong population and tens of thousands of foreign tourists who flock the country annually, are feared to be at an increased risk of the out-of-control coronavirus pandemic.

This is according to a recently published study by Makerere University researchers, which found that Rwandans are living in close contact with bats which host multiple coronaviruses including those related to the SARS-CoV (Covid19) which is currently wreaking havoc around the world.

At 11 confirmed Covid19 cases, Rwanda is currently the most affected country in the region and the 8th in Africa.

Prof. Denis K. Byarugaba, from Makerere University’s College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources and Biosecurity says in the study that he and his colleagues conducted in Rwanda, they found evidence that bats living in close contact with people were found to be infected with multiple viruses of zoonotic potential.

“Mucosal swabs from 503 bats representing 17 species were sampled and screened by consensus PCR for 11 viral families. Samples were negative for all viral families except coronaviruses, which were detected in 27 bats belonging to eight species,” he says.

“In this study, sequences representing two novel coronaviruses that clustered with the SARS-like coronaviruses were detected in bat tourism caves and other sites where people and bats come into close contact in Rwanda.”

The bats hosting these viruses, Prof Byarugaba says, were predominantly found in Musanze Caves, which attract a lot of tourists that flock the country for gorilla trekking.

Although known coronaviruses which were detected in this study have been identified in bats in other geographical areas including China, Prof Byarugaba says this is their first detection in Rwanda.

“Bats in Rwanda carry novel and known coronaviruses, a family of viruses from which novel viruses have caused human pandemics,” he concluded.