Bats living in South Korea have been found to carry viruses similar to the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome(MERS) virus.

A joint research team from the Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology and Korea University on Monday announced results of their studies analyzing 49 bat feces in eleven habitats in South Korea between July and December.

The team explained that the viruses from the bats are genetically similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome(SARS) and MERS‐CoV.

It was the first time South Korean researchers detected the viruses from bats although similar reports were made in China, Taiwan and Europe.

The finding was posted in the May edition of the international journal, "Transboundary and Emerging Diseases."

Bats, which boasts over two-thousand species across the world, are a major channel of infection for viruses. They have carried and spread viruses although they are not affected by them.