A new strain of influenza vitus found in fruit bats. These findings indicate that bats, like birds, can be carriers of the flu virus.

"This is the first time the flu virus identified in bats, but in its present form, the virus is not harmful to humans," said Chen Zhou Tong, the inventor of the virus.

Influenza A virus was detected in 3 samples of 316 yellow bats have shoulders that inhabit two different locations Guatemalan territory. Bats sample does not bite humans, only eat fruit.

Tong, who is also head of the pathogen discovery program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said that the study is important because it gives clues that animals can be a source of virus.

Previous flu virus that caused a pandemic, such as H1N1, known to originate from animals. The virus then mutated so that it can infect humans.

"Fortunately, the newly discovered virus needs to make significant changes to infect humans and spread easily," said Ruben Donis, chief of Molecular Virology and Vaccine Branch, Influenza Division at the CDC, told AFP on Tuesday (28/02/2012).

However, this new virus is expected to infect other animals such as horses, pigs and dogs. The findings were published in the journal virus the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.