A Quick Overview: COVID-19 & Bats
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All animals, humans and bats included, harbor viruses, many of which have evolved within a particular species and do not cause those animals to get sick. Some bats have coronaviruses, and humans do as well, as do other animals. Researchers have found that a coronavirus like the one infecting humans as COVID-19 is found in a bat species, but it's still not similar enough to infect humans. Recent research indicates that, all being equal, the number of human-infecting viruses in bats is similar to those found in other mammals (Mollentze and Streicker, 2020). Danger arises when viruses jump from one species to another, as the new species may not have developed an immune response to this new-to-them virus. This kind of “spillover” event is historically rare, but there’s a good chance that increased human activity and populations will create more chances for spillovers to occur. How? In two main ways:
1. When humans bring species together in markets or encroach on wildlife habitat, there is a greater chance for cross-species transmission of viruses. 2. Habitat disturbance can stress animals, potentially making them more susceptible to viruses and/or produce viruses in greater numbers. This means that the best way to keep people safe is to respect wildlife and their natural habitats. Are we up to that challenge? I hope so! |
Illustration by Virginia Greene. 
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SOURCES
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Alagona, Peter (3/24/20), It’s wrong to blame bats for the coronavirus epidemic, The Conversation.
Cordani, Danielle (9/15/20), Bat Flash! Unveiling the Real World of Bats in a Time of Misinformation, Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation.
Fraenkel, Amy (7/22/20), Opinion: Far from Being our Enemies, Bats Need Protection now more than ever, Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
Gorman, James (10/8/20), What’s Special About Bat Viruses? What We Don’t Know Could Hurt Us, New York Times.
Kelly-Linden, Jordan (10/29/20), Half a million undiscovered animal viruses could cause next pandemic, report warns, The Telegraph.
Kingston, Tigga (4/17/20), Roosting With Bats, GLOBE: Lines of thought across Southeast Asia.
MacFarlane D, Rocha R (August 2020), Guidelines for communicating about bats to prevent persecution in the time of COVID-19, Science Direct: Biological Conservation, vol. 248, doi: 10.1016/j.biocon.2020.108650.
Mollentze N, Streicker DG (4/28/20), Viral zoonotic risk is homogenous among taxonomic orders of mammalian and avian reservoir hosts. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 117(17):9423-9430. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1919176117.
Quammen, David (12/11/20), The Virus, the Bats and Us, New York Times.
Restif, Olivier (4/16/20), Coronavirus: three misconceptions about how animals transmit diseases debunked, The Conversation
Tuttle, Merlin (4/2/20), A Vital Witch Hunt: COVID-19 Impact, Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation.
Tuttle, Merlin (6/15/20), CNN Misses the Mark: Response to CNN Program “Bats—The Mystery Behind COVID-19″, Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation.
Tuttle, Merlin (7/17/20), Bat Flash! Misleading Article Harms Bats and Public Health, Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation.
Tuttle, Merlin (8/13/20), Bat Flash! Premature Speculation Revives Scary Headlines, Merlin Tuttle's Bat Conservation.
Zeldovich, Lina (10/28/20), What Bats Can Teach Humans About Coronavirus Immunity, JSTOR Daily.
Zhao, Huabin (3/27/20), COVID-19 drives new threat to bats in China, Science 367 (6485): 1436, DOI: 10.1126/science.abb3088