
Zoonotic Viruses and Conservation of Bats [pdf] - Kaibeezy
https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/81615307.pdf
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Kaibeezy
_| Why Bats?

\- high-population densities and the usually gregarious roosting behaviour ...
increase the likelihood of both intra- and interspecies transmission of
viruses

\- Large-scale movements of bats due to their ability for powered flight are
also likely to facilitate viral transmission within and among species,
including the exchange of novel viruses and virus variants across biomes or
even continents

\- The extreme relative longevity of bats compared to other mammals of similar
size

\- Reduction of body temperature associated with hibernation of temperate zone
bats lowers both viral activity and the metabolism of hosts, leading to
increased incubation periods and therefore reduced likelihood of epizootic
fadeout

\- Bats are ancient mammals in evolutionary terms, and virus utilisation of
highly conserved cellular receptors could facilitate transmission to other
mammals

\- the relatively high body temperature (about 38–41 °C) and metabolism of
bats during flight may select for viruses tolerant to such conditions, meaning
the normal febrile defence mechanism of other mammals is ineffective, making
bat-borne viruses potentially more virulent and lethal for other, non-flying
mammals.

| Coronaviruses

\- Bats can regularly be found in markets in China, which makes direct
transmission of the virus from bats to humans likely.

\- a small fragment of a coronavirus PCRed from an Egyptian tomb bat
(Taphozous perforatus) showed 100 % nucleotide identity to virus from the
human index case-patient of MERS, suggesting that this species may be one of
the putative natural reservoirs of the virus

\- The intensified search for viruses in bats worldwide has led to the
detection of coronaviruses other than SARS and MERS, whose potential to be or
become zoonotic has yet to be investigated

\- No clinical symptoms associated with infections with SARS-like and other
coronaviruses have yet been described for bats.

| Conclusion_ [no, it's not "kill all bats"]

 _\- educational efforts_ [such as re: not eating bats; not disturbing
colonies by culling; etc.]

 _\- the natural habitats of bats need to be better protected to provide bat
populations with sufficient space and to prevent range expansion into urban
and suburban areas, where contact with humans and livestock may increase the
risk of spillover events_

