A new study has concluded that there is no clear evidence that COVID-19 was transmitted from bats

The origin of the COVID-19 outbreak is not believed to be in bats. According to the study, bats have a highly effective immune system that makes them easy to deal with.

Dr. Maya Weinberg is a faculty member of the Steinhardt Museum of Natural History and head of the Sagol School of Neuroscience. The conclusions of the research team's work were published in iScience.

The reputation of the bats is well-known among both the scientific community and the public. Bats are often accused of being a threat to public health because of their ability to reproduce. Dr. Weinberg wanted to show that bats play an important role in the pollination of crops.

We don't know what the exact origin of the COVID-19 variant is despite some evidence that it originated in bats.

According to Dr. Weinberg, bats are wrongly thought of as being carriers of many diseases, only due to their being positive serologically positive, which means that bats have survived the disease and developed an immune response. They got rid of the virus and are no longer its carriers. It is possible for a virus similar to a human pathogen to be found in bats, but it is not enough to cause harm to humans.

In order to examine the overall situation, we conducted a meta-analysis of the literature and checked the finding for over 100 viruses for which bats are considered to be potential reservoirs, such as the flu. We found that in a lot of cases, the claim was based on the incidence of a specific test, rather than the isolation of a single virus. Many of the reports are not convincing.

The existence of an established path of transmission and a minimum number of index cases are needed in order to be considered a reservoir animal. The very detection of a particular virus in bats doesn't necessarily mean further infections, and other biological, ecological and anthropogenic conditions must exist in order for such an event to take place.

According to the researchers, bats are better able to deal with different types of viruses than humans and most other mammals. bats' immune system is characterized by a restrained response during inflammatory processes after over 100 years of focus on Viruses carried by bats Bats have developed a balance between resistance and tolerance through a number of different mechanisms. Bats have a well-balanced response to prevent the virus from developing.

The comprehensive study we've done raises serious doubts about the possibility of bats being the source of the COVID-19 outbreak. According to the findings, we must study in-depth the immunological anti-viral capabilities of bats, and thus obtain new and effective means of dealing with diseases like aging and cancer.

More information: Maya Weinberg et al, Revising the paradigm: Are bats really pathogen reservoirs or do they possess an efficient immune system?, iScience (2022). DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2022.104782 Journal information: iScience Citation: A new study has concluded that there is no clear evidence that COVID-19 was transmitted from bats (2022, September 5) retrieved 5 September 2022 from https://phys.org/news/2022-09-evidence-covid-transmitted.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.