The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has a likely connection to bats, and according to scientists, the next pandemic probably will too. This is why more must be learned about the many viruses these flying mammals carry.
A growing body of evidence links different bat species to disease outbreaks in humans, including MERS, SARS, and some Ebola viruses, as well as the Nipah, Sosuga, Hendra, and Marburg viruses as well. Beyond these connections, we still know very little.
Nature Reviews Microbiology published an article calling for more research into bats and their molecular biology in order to help predict and potentially prevent another disease outbreak.
"The more researchers have looked, the more we've found that a lot of these emerging pathogens, at one point or another, originated in bats," said Michael Letko, the lead author and an assistant professor of molecular virology at Washington State University's Paul G. Allen School of Global Animal Health. "Over time, we have accumulated a lot of information about some of the species of bats and some of the viruses they carry, but there are still these huge glaring holes in our knowledge."
Bats have over 1,400 species. They represent an extremely diverse mammalian order, second only to rodents, which are also common viral hosts. However, bats do not make good lab animals, unlike mice and rats, because, well, it's challenging to keep animals with wings in labs. Additionally, a lot of mammalian cell lines used for research are derived from other animals and are useless when it comes to studying bat viruses.
As the current pandemic shows, this knowledge gap is extremely dangerous. Bats are all over the place --- they're literally found everywhere on the planet. With this expanse, it's almost inevitable to prevent viral infection, according to Letko.
Letko, along with his co-authors, wrote in the paper strategies to lessen the odds of a new pandemic happening involving more rigid and dedicated bat research. Already, many pathogens have been identified, but it needs more than just discovery. There must be genetic technologies involved in order to better understand how viruses are transmitted. With this knowledge, we can improve our ability to develop medicines following the discovery of a pathogen, and potentially create vaccines to protect humanity from entire virus groups before they appear.
Letko and his team will continue their research at his lab at WSU. They will provide initial screening of bat-borne viruses to label those that are most likely passed to humans.
