Hyderabad: We need to understand how these viruses get transmitted from bats to people. Then we need to change the way we do things so they cannot – Dr. Jonathan Epstein (Disease ecologist at EcoHealth Alliance)
There is no conclusive evidence that bats carry the novel coronavirus. People should stop panicking about it – C. Srinivasulu (A Hyderabad-based biologist).
As the world is trembling with the COVID-19 pandemic, all fingers are now pointed towards a small creature. There is growing suspicion that the virus may have been transmitted from the nocturnal mammal. The previous epidemics like Ebola, SARS and MERS also were directly or indirectly related to bats. Every bat can act as a reservoir for at least two types of viruses. Sometimes, these viruses are directly transmitted to humans and at other times, they are transmitted through intermediary animals.
The novel coronavirus is thought to be transmitted this way. How do bats host such deadly viruses? To what extent do they contribute to the spread of pathogens? Are they beneficial to humans? All these are questions to be pondered. Most epidemics so far have been transmitted from animals. They are called zoonotic diseases (diseases that pass between animals and humans). Researchers have identified that bats act like the perfect hosts for more than 60 types of viruses.
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Any injury or strain to our muscles may tear them, owing to damage at a cellular level. Consequently, our body’s immune system jumps to mediate muscle regeneration. During the process, we may experience muscle pains, swelling and fever. The body naturally carries out this process in an attempt to repair the cellular damage. In some cases, the immune system may overreact, resulting in a life-threatening condition like pneumonia. The same is happening in the case of COVID-19.
Bats are unique in this regard. Since they must flap their wings a hundred times in a minute to stay afloat, their muscles get damaged easily. But their immune system is accustomed to repairing the damage. Bats are at an advantage as their immune system rarely overreacts. In some bats, this system is always ready to deal with viruses. Even if they do not fight off the virus, they prevent the virus from causing any harm to the mammal. This causes the bats to become perfect hosts to the pathogens which means, the viruses cannot affect the bats. They just take residence in their bodies till they find a suitable host.
Bats can fly great distances in a short time. During their flight, they can spread the viruses by biting a bird or animal, or by excreting urine or faeces. Bats are highly contagious if touched, hunted or consumed. That is, they do not transmit the virus unless human beings deliberately get into contact with them.
In 2002, the SARS virus was transmitted from bats to civets. There are over 120 species of wildlife such as peacocks, bats, deer and squirrels in the Chinese wet markets. They are kept in cages. They are butchered upon the request of customers. There are about 20,000 wildlife breeding farms in China. There are 1,000 meat shops in the Wuhan market alone. There are reports that that nCoV has escaped from one such wet market. In the past, the SARS virus was transmitted to humans from civet cats, a delicacy in China. It is suspected that the novel coronavirus has come into contact with the humans in a similar way.
Experts are against the idea of killing or culling bats to counter the spread of COVID-19. Bats play a major role in maintaining ecological balance. They are valuable to the environment. They prey upon the pests and rodents that damage food crops. Besides, they disperse fruit seeds across large areas during their search for food.
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Environmental lovers fear that people may destroy bat habitats as the COVID-19 is taking a dangerous form across the world. There are 16 species of bats within a 100 km radius of Hyderabad. There are 18 bat species in Telangana alone. Till 1990, there was a large colony of 12,000 bats in Hyderabad’s Golconda Fort. The number has fallen to 4,000 now.
China’s attempt to change the natural equilibrium has badly boomeranged and cost millions of lives. In 1958, China launched the Four Pests Campaign under the leadership of Mao Zedong. The four pests were mosquitoes responsible for malaria, rodents that spread the plague, flies that cause airborne diseases and sparrows that destroy crops.
Among the four pests, sparrows were the worst hit. So much so that the Chinese citizens gathered at the Polish Embassy at Beijing to scare away the sparrows that took refuge there. The officials denied entry but the people persisted and surrounded the building with drums. The sparrows in the building died from constant drumming for two days.
By 1960, the Chinese rulers had changed their opinion. Contrary to their estimates, the mass killing of sparrows had resulted in low yields year after a year. Locust population shot up. At least 1.5 crore people died during 1959-61 owing to other natural disasters. China had to import 2.5 lakh sparrows from the Soviet Union to restore the lost balance. Keeping in view this experience, environmentalists point out that bats should not be eliminated amid COVID-19 scare.
