Researchers looked for viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 and found three among bats living in Laotian caves that had receptor binding domains that closely resembled those found in the virus

Horseshoe bats found in caves in Laos carry coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2, researchers from the Pasteur Institute and the University of Laos found. The study is pre-print and is under consideration for publication by a Nature journal. The researchers looked for viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 and found three among the bats that had receptor binding domains that closely resembled those found in the virus, Bloomberg reported. The receptor binding domains are part of the spike protein that allows the virus to attach itself to the human enzyme ACE-2. The study noted that no other viruses similar to the COVID-causing microbe have been shown to use this enzyme to infect human cells.

https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/horseshoe-bat-coronaviruses-related-to-covid-virus-study-679917