One strategy that scientists have discovered to stop the next pandemic is to let bats alone.
In addition to being the primary source of the Covid-19 pandemic theory and natural hosts for coronaviruses, bats can spread a wide range of other illnesses, including rabies, Marburg filoviruses, the Hendra and Nipah viruses, and other coronaviruses including Mers and Sars.
Fruit bats are even thought to be a source of Ebolaviruses.
The World Health Organisation recently warned that the next pandemic, given the hypothetical name ‘Disease X’, is just a matter of time.
Now, four years after the latest pandemic, researchers from Cornell University and Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) are urging us to leave bats in peace in order to help avoid a Disease X situation.
In their new study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, the team said that allowing bats to live undisturbed will significantly reduce the risk of future zoonotic spillover events – infectious diseases transferred from animals to humans – and pandemics.
Dr Susan Lieberman, from the WCS, said: ‘In a globalised world with eight billion people, we can no longer ignore our interconnectedness with the wildlife and ecosystems around us.
‘We must change humanity’s relationship with nature if we want to prevent the next pandemic of zoonotic origin – and that can start with bats.’
Humans regularly interact with bat through activities such as hunting, eating or culling them, or disturbing their natural habitat, such as through farming or development.
Lead author Dr Steven Osofsky said: ‘Getting humanity to work collaboratively at a global scale underpins most of the existential challenges we face, from climate change and environmental pollution to biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse.
‘However, if we can actually stop hunting, eating, and trading bats, stay out of their caves, keep livestock away from areas where bats are concentrated, and if we can stop deforesting, degrading – or even start restoring – their natural habitats, we can indisputably lower the chances of another pandemic.’
Bats play a very important part in local ecosystems, as they help with pollination and natural pest control, but around the world are at risk, and even endangered, from loss of habitat due to human development.
