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Virology: Why do viruses often come from bats?

Introversion

Introversion

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This is a pretty informative post, I thought.

Why do viruses often come from bats? A discussion with your friendly neighborhood virologist

Reddit said:
Hello r/Science! I’m /u/_Shibboleth_ and I’m a Virologist/Immunologist.

The 4.5 years I spent getting a PhD were dedicated to studying antibody responses against emerging viruses like Ebola and Marburg. So you can imagine how much time I’ve spent thinking about bats.

Here’s some answers about why they always seem to be the culprit when it comes to outbreaks.

Q: Why is it always bats? (that harbor dangerous viruses that spill over into humans)

A: It's complicated.

TL;DR - Bats are a perfect storm of: genetic proximity to humans (as fellow mammals), keystone species interacting with many others in the environment (including via respiratory secretions and blood-transmission), great immune systems for spreading dangerous viruses, flight, social structure, hibernation, etc.

You may not be fully aware, but unless your head has been stuffed in the sand, you've probably heard, at some point, that X virus "lives in bats." It's been said about: Rabies, Hendra/Nipah, Ebola, Chikungunya, Rift Valley Fever, St. Louis Encephalitis, and yes, SARS, MERS, and, now probably SARS-CoV-2 (with the addition of another intermediate species?)

Bats really do harbor more viruses than other species groups!

But why? Why is it always bats? The answer lies in the unique niche bats fill in our ecosystem.

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Click to expand...
 
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Roxxsmom

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Good article.

My dad was a virologist. I've missed him since he passed away, and I really wish he were here to offer his own thoughts and insights on what is happening, though his specialty was herpesviruses (most particularly herpes simplex 1) and the genes that control latency, not RNA viruses. He missed seeing Trump elected, though, so maybe he was lucky in that respect.

One thing about my dad the virologist that was kind of amusing, though, was he was quite squeamish about bats. Now lots of people are, as bats superficially resemble rodents, and they come out at night and flap around on leathery wings. But I think some of it was because he knew how many viruses they harbor.

There was an evening we were playing bumper pool in a house he and my mom had just purchased in the foothills near Mariposa, CA, and a couple bats flew in through a gap in one of the screens. They made a few passes around the room, flew through the spinning ceiling fan without harm, and exited again. Dad ran around and squealed like a small child! This was amusing at the time.

Regardless, bats are fascinating animals that play essential roles in our ecosystems and are worthy of respect. Many species are also in trouble, thanks to the mess we humans are making of everything. One reason we're seeing more diseases coming from wildlife in general (and it isn't always bats) is our increasing encroachment into their habitat. I hope some wise ass doesn't decide the best way to deal with this issue is to kill all the bats, because the most dangerous animal vector for disease transmission are mosquitoes, which are on the menu for many bat species.
 
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