- Delaune, Deborah;
- Hul, Vibol;
- Karlsson, Erik A;
- Hassanin, Alexandre;
- Ou, Tey Putita;
- Baidaliuk, Artem;
- Gámbaro, Fabiana;
- Prot, Matthieu;
- Tu, Vuong Tan;
- Chea, Sokha;
- Keatts, Lucy;
- Mazet, Jonna;
- Johnson, Christine K;
- Buchy, Philippe;
- Dussart, Philippe;
- Goldstein, Tracey;
- Simon-Lorière, Etienne;
- Duong, Veasna
Knowledge of the origin and reservoir of the coronavirus responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is still fragmentary. To date, the closest relatives to SARS-CoV-2 have been detected in Rhinolophus bats sampled in the Yunnan province, China. Here we describe the identification of SARS-CoV-2 related coronaviruses in two Rhinolophus shameli bats sampled in Cambodia in 2010. Metagenomic sequencing identifies nearly identical viruses sharing 92.6% nucleotide identity with SARS-CoV-2. Most genomic regions are closely related to SARS-CoV-2, with the exception of a region of the spike, which is not compatible with human ACE2-mediated entry. The discovery of these viruses in a bat species not found in China indicates that SARS-CoV-2 related viruses have a much wider geographic distribution than previously reported, and suggests that Southeast Asia represents a key area to consider for future surveillance for coronaviruses.