sion to other parts of the world within a few months (Ksiazek et al., 2003). From November 2002 to August 2003, SARS-CoV infected more than 8,098 people in 29 counties, resulting in over 774 deaths with ∼10% fatality rate (Du et al., 2009a). Palm civets serving as a potential intermediate host of this virus were traced immediately (Tu et al., 2004). Chinese horseshoe bats (Rhinolophus sinicus) are the natural reservoir of SARS-CoV (Li et al., 2005b). Various bat SARS-related CoVs (SARSr-CoV) have been identified in Yunnan, China, several of which can infect hum