India, June 25 -- In China, researchers have discovered at least 20 new viruses within bats, raising "urgent concerns" that these might go on to affect livestock as well as humans in future.

The team used genetic sequencing to identify 22 viruses in the kidney tissues of 142 bats. These were collected from China's Yunnan province between 2017 and 2021. Two of them are genetically similar to Hendra and Nipah henipaviruses, Newsweek reported.

Both the viruses could cause brain inflammation and dangerous respiratory disease in humans, according to The Sun.

The study unveiled species of bacteria along with a parasite, which earlier remained unknown to science.

This development comes a few years after the deadly COVID-19 outbreak resulted ...