Bat SARS-like coronavirus WIV1 (Bat SL-CoV-WIV1), also sometimes called SARS-like coronavirus WIV1, is a strain of severe acute respiratory syndromeâÂÂrelated 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.
The discovery confirms that bats are the natural reservoir of SARS-CoV. Phylogenetic analysis shows the possibility of direct transmission of SARS from bats to humans without the intermediary Chinese civets, as previously believed.