3 ms·
Disclaimer: This is out of my area of expertise. Bats, in general, are susceptible to coronaviruses, in general, as are all mammals. But not all mammals are su
by driggs 4y ago
Disclaimer: This is out of my area of expertise.
Bats, in general, are susceptible to coronaviruses, in general, as are all mammals. But not all mammals are susceptible to all coronaviruses.
The disease Covid-19 is caused by the specific coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, and that specific mutated virus only affects certain mammals, notably humans. It is apparently contagious to some other mammals, including deer, cats, minks, but not contagious to some other mammals.
I have read that coronaviruses similar to SARS-CoV-2 have been found in Horseshoe Bats in Asia (note: there are no Horseshoe Bats in North America), but that do not have a binding protein which would allow them to infect humans; I believe the opposite is true of SARS-CoV-2, it binds to a human receptor but not to bats'. It is hypothesized that SARS-CoV-2 may have mutated from a bat-borne coronavirus, but several intermediate links between species must have been involved (Pangolins?), and it is perhaps this chain of binding mutations responsible for this difference in hosts.
Though we no longer handle bats with bare hands these days (to protect bats from us!), this was common practice for decades. Other than rabies (which can be spread by any mammal, and occurs in bats in no higher percentage than in skunks, foxes, etc), I'm not aware of any known disease which can be spread from North American or European microbats to humans. I don't have specific knowledge about megabats (fruit bats) or Asian or African species.
- solardev 4y agoStill, thank you for the clear explanation! It may not be your area of expertise, but it still taught me a lot. Thank you.