Researchers urge scientists to find more about bat viruses

Since the pandemic took over the world, bats have gone from being just acreature to one of the most important subjects of various studies. It is not solely the scientists and researchers who are how taking interest in these creatures, but even civilians who want to sharpen their knowledge to protect themselves from any other viruses.

Working on the same lines, researchersDaniel G. Streicker andAmy T. Gilbert have published a report in the Science journal urging their fellow researchers to launch immediate and more detailed study into the impacts of the bats in various viruses.

Streicker is a vampire bat researcher at the University of Glasgow andGilbert isa disease ecologist at the National Wildlife Research Center in Fort Collins, Colorado.

The two researchers believe that instead of finding why the bats play an important role, it is important to first figure how do they play an important role in the spread of viruses.

"Immunological traits have been proposed to allow bats to control viruses differently from other animals. However, incomplete baselines for broader comparisons across vertebrates and extensive immunological variation among bat species casts uncertainty on their distinctiveness as viral reservoirs," the report reads.

As per the researchers, there is a common perception that bats nurture more viruses as compared to other animals.Streicker claims that the experts, he believes, lack the actual data on this claim as they tend to ignore the huge number of species in bats.

"Bats (order Chiroptera) comprise ∼1400 species that split from the remaining members of the Scrotifera (carnivores, pangolins, cetaceans, and odd- and even-toed ungulates) over 60 million years ago."

They do agree that some bats species can harbor few viruses such asSARS and MERS that are hazardous to the human species, but it is not enough to prove that these viruses are more dangerous than any other viruses caused to humans through other animals.

“We seem to be lacking really strong, compelling evidence that the viruses of bats are more diverse or more prone to infect humans or more dangerous when they do infect humans than viruses of other animals,” he told a media house.

The researchers also talk about the heightened interest in bat-related studies. "Heightened interest in bat-associated viral zoonoses has also revealed high immunological variation among species."

Gilbert and Streicker also pointed out a few specific areas of research in which bats can serve as the subjects of testing. These can be related to new techniques for disease control and/or animal population vaccines. Giving an example, they cited how rabies in foxes has been fought withvaccines in bait that foxes eat. Simialrly, the researchers said, a vaccine can be applied in the bat fur that can be spread with contact. However, this needs more research.

They also stressed on the importance of researchers coming together from various disciplines.“We need interactions between immunologists, virologists, ecologists and evolutionary biologists,” Streicker said. He also added that such interactions are happening at a greater scale now due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

"The search for answers may inspire new approaches to manage disease threats to human and animal health," the report reads.