Bats can be the reason behind the spread of most virulent and contagious viruses, finds researchers. A study conducted by the researchers at the United States. A study was conducted on zoonotic risks across animal reservoirs and it was found that bats host the most transmissible viruses that may or may not be dangerous all the time. The study went through the statistical trends of fatalities, transmission rate, and death burden in humans across 89 mammalian and avian zoonotic viruses that can spread in the human population and found that bats are the reservoirs of the most virulent viruses.
It appeared that the primates are the habitat for less virulent but more highly transmissible viruses. Moreover, high human death burdens were associated with diverse traits specific to the viruses themselves rather than being associated with any particular animal reservoir. The study has been published in the journal PNAS.
The study establishes the importance of longitudinal studies of epidemiological dynamics and should not be limited to the examination of specific animal populations or species, according to the authors.
Bats are the reservoir of most virulent viruses even when compared to other avian creatures that were also hypothesized to be special zoonotic reservoirs due to molecular adaptations that support the physiology of flight, finds the study Further research may offer the most effective strategy for mitigating zoonotic risk, the authors mentioned.
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