Page 193 - Flock News Today

Scientists believe covid-19 may have had its roots in a community of horseshoe bats in southeastern china. these particular bats represent a very small subset of horseshoe bats all named for the shape of their noses. there are actually dozens of varieties of horseshoe bats living in a number places, including the temperate and tropical regions of central europe, africa and asia. in fact, theres incredible diversity among bat species. bats can be found living all around the world, on every contin...

In the last 20 years, some of the deadliest virus outbreaks have come from bats. sars, marburg, ebola. so what is it about these creatures and the way they spread pathogens that can be so dangerous? >> the fact that bats are carrying viruses is not in and of itself extraordinary. every animal has its normal suite of viruses and bacteria that it normally carries. people do as well. we carry viruses, we carry bacteria, the majority of which are benign or beneficial, some of which cause disease. it...

For many of us, when we think of bats, we think of one thing. rabies. the threat of that virus is often misunderstood. >> its not very common for americans to get rabies. >> dylan george is a former white house adviser for biological threat defense. >> in any given year theres anywhere from zero to one to two people might get infected from rabies in bats or potentially from foxes or raccoons or skunks. >> rabies has actually been around for 2,000 years. for most of that time, if you got it, it w...

And more each year. >> in a lab, researchers in berkeley, california, are looking for clues on how to help humans fight viruses like covid-19. >> there is actually a lot we can learn from bats. this group of animals thats been around for millions of years. how can we look at their history with viruses and take that knowledge, and think about therapeutics and treatments for ourselves? >> what is it about bats that allows some of them to host these viruses, without showing any illness? >> thats th...

>> when the wing is around the face like that, theyre using their wings as built-in blanket. >> hes part of a larger movement thats been taking place for the last three decades in the united states, teaching people why these creatures should be protected, not feared. >> were all here for one purpose and for one target and one direction, and thats to help these animals and to help people understand why these animals need our assistance. theyre so much like us. they are different looking, differen...

>> the same adaptation, also, favor them to carry virus. >> it doesnt appear that they get sick, or very sick, when they are carrying viruses that can be deadly in other people and animals. >> so, could studying bat immunology help us, humans, create possible treatments to fight this current and future pandemics? what do you think is the greatest challenge in terms of finding a treatment or cure for these viruses? >> well, to my mind, the greatest challenge is the number of unknown viruses that ...

Like maybe its because they fly, and when they fly their body temperature gets a little higher, so its like a fever and that gives them the ability to handle more viruses than other kinds of animals would. >> dan riskin is an evolutionary biologist and tv host who did his ph.d. work on bats. >> when a virus gets into a human and a human responds by getting a fever which is effective against a lot of viruses, it doesnt work on the bat ones because theyre used to these warm temperatures anyway. >>...

Every year, we, as a species, deeper and deeper into bat habitat and those of other wild creatures. exposing ourselves to new, and dangerous, viruses. with the dramatic increase in travel, a rise in global trade, were now capable of spreading those viruses, far and wide. scientists warn that what weve

>> some migrate thousands of miles, and hence the viruses that they carry traffic along those migratory routes. >> and though some of the pathogens bats play host to can make them sick, like rabies, they also have the unique ability to host and withstand some viruses without getting sick. >> understanding how bats co-exist with diseases is very critical. bats have a very unique relationship with pathogens generally. they have a unique biology, and it allows them to coexist with pathogens in diff...

Only contribution to the ecosyst ecosystem. the droppings of fruit-eating bats, particularly in rain forests, help disperse seeds and regenerate trees and plants previously cut down. and thats not the only benefit. >> bat droppings are full of nitrogen so theyre good for crops. and there are all kinds of stories about these caves in the united states being harvested for fertilizer, then for explosive for the civil war. >> there are also bats that serve as the only pollinators of particular types...