A team from the University of Tokyo has begun a survey of wild bats in Vietnam to look for a virus with the potential to cause another pandemic.



The COVID-19 pandemic is thought to have been caused by a virus that jumped from a wild animal to humans. Health experts have warned that another previously unknown virus could spread from wild animals to humans.



A research team at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Medical Science plans to take samples in Southeast Asia, including Thailand and Malaysia.



On Monday, the group started work in a cave in the northern Vietnamese province of Lao Cai, targeting a particular species of wild bat known to host COVID-19 and other viruses.



The survey is being conducted with Japan's Nagasaki University and the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology.



Samples taken from the bats are being analyzed at a laboratory in Vietnam to see what kinds of pathogen they contain and whether any of them may be infectious to humans. The team hopes the data could be used to develop vaccines or treatments.



Professor Sato Kei, the head of the project team, says identifying and analyzing previously unknown high-risk viruses from wild animals will go a long way toward preparing for a future pandemic.