Are Bats Dangerous: Why Do So Many Viruses Live In Bats?

The whole world is now pointing to the Chinese wildlife market as a possible source of coronavirus. Many have blamed bats for the virus. So, Are bats dangerous?

Eco Health Alliance President, Peter Daszak has been researching the spread of disease from animals to humans in China for 15 years. He says about “Are bats dangerous?” it has similarities with each of the seven species of coronavirus that have been identified so far in terms of genetic characteristics. And scientists are fairly certain that the virus, which is the closest virus to the virus, has spread from bats.

It has already been proven that epidemics like SARS, Mars, and Ebola are spread by bats. Pigs have also been kept in the same row. It is worth mentioning that SARS and MARS viruses are cousins of the current epidemic coronavirus.

Bats naturally contain pathogens such as Marburg, Nipah, and Hendra viruses. Due to which the diseases have spread to Africa, Malaysia, Bangladesh, and Australia.

When the SARS virus spread in 2003, cat-like odors were blamed. And the virus was spread in the body of the animal through bats. Large Indian civet meat is eaten by people in some parts of Asia. As a result, the virus spread among them. Even bats can spread rabies. However, that only applies to infected bats.

The presence of multiple viruses in bats is quite common. Depending on the tolerability of the virus, mammals can only spread the deadly virus based on certain characteristics. Bats pollinate fruit tree insects such as bananas, avocados, and mangoes.

And in this way, they can infect all the deadly viruses. The ability of bats to carry the virus and the naturally acquired ability to spread them to animals, as well as the habit of some people to eat bats, has facilitated the spread of the virus today.

"It's not at all surprising that bats have been blamed for the new virus," said Stathis Giotis, a virus specialist at Imperial College London. Bats are the most suitable and widely known hosts of viruses that cause infections. ” Scientist Stathis Giotis said the virus was most likely to be transmitted by horses of the Horse So species among the various species of bats in China.

Why are bats being blamed for spreading the virus everywhere?

Are bats dangerous? There are at least 1,300 species of bats in the world. Bats have been seen roaming all continents except the ice-covered continent of Antarctica. And compared to other animals, bats are long-lived animals.

This flying mammal is capable of carrying multiple viruses without being infected. Usually inside a cave, millions of bats can live together. Carrying viruses, therefore, creates an easier way of transmission among others.

Scientists have discovered the germs of about 70 complex diseases that infect humans and mammals from bats. According to Stathis Giotis, scientists now believe that bats' immunity has changed as a result of excessive flying. To find out, they have noticed several genetic changes in bats.

Scientists are still trying to find strong evidence that the Wuhan virus spread from bats. Chinese scientists have been working on the bat-borne virus for a long time. He thinks that in the future, bat-borne coronaviruses will emerge as the cause of the outbreak in China.

Dr. Peter Daszak, president of the Eco health Alliance, a London-based environmental health organization, said scientists in China had found the presence of at least 50 coronaviruses associated with SARS in various bats in the country.

In a study published in the Lancet Medical Journal about are bats dangerous, Guizhen Wu, a professor at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, said that all of the preliminary samples were similar to those found in bats.

In 2003, when the first outbreak of SARS was reported in the southwestern Chinese province of Yunnan, a review of those infected with the virus showed that most of them lived near caves. Scientists later conducted experiments in the cave and found the existence of the Sars Coronavirus in cave bats.