CDC researchers have identified a new influenza A strain in Peruvian bats. The strain, which they named H18N11, demonstrates characteristics of strains that do not infect humans, but experts can't definitively say that it isn't a threat to humans. Bats harbor a plethora of zoonotic pathogens and may be a host in which viruses genetically change. At some genetic loci, "New World bats harbor more influenza virus genetic diversity than all other mammalian and avian species combined," according to the report.
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