- 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
- 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