Bat conservation and zoonotic disease risk: a research agenda to prevent misguided persecution in the aftermath of COVID‐19

Rocha, Ricardo; Aziz, Sheema Abdul; Brook, Cara E.; Carvalho, William Douglas de; Cooper-Bohannon, Rachael; Frick, Winifred F.; Huang, Joe Chun‐Chia; Kingston, Tigga; López‐Baucells, Adrià; Maas, Bea; Mathews, Fiona; Medellín, Rodrigo A.; Olival, Kevin J.; Peel, Alison J.; Plowright, Raina K.; Razgour, Orly; Rebelo, Hugo; Rodrigues, Luísa; Rossiter, Stephen J.; Russo, Danilo; Straka, Tanja M.; Teeling, Emma C.; Treuer, Timothy; Voigt, Christian C.; Webala, Paul W.

doi:10.1111/acv.12636

Cited by 53 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…212 Thus, developing commitments between farmers and scientists to sustain bat populations in a healthy way are critical to reinitializing agribusiness post CoVID-19. It is certainly true that local bat populations have been targeted in numerous countries throughout the world 213 as a result of CoVID19, meaning that screening, education, and improved local involvement/complicity (requiring close collaboration with and coordination by conservationists) 214 will be even more critical in years to come.…”

Section: Other Diagnostic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science’s Response to COVID-19

Aye¹,

Long²

2021

Preprint

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CoVID-19 is a multi-symptomatic disease which has made a global impact due to its ability to spread rapidly, and its relatively high mortality rate. Beyond the heroic efforts to develop vaccines, which we will not discuss, the response of scientists and clinicians to this complex problem has reflected the need to detect CoVID-19 rapidly, to diagnose patients likely to show adverse symptoms, and to treat severe and critical CoVID-19. Here we aim to encapsulate these varied and sometimes conflicting approaches and the resulting data in terms of chemistry and biology. In the process we highlight emerging concepts, and potential future applications that may arise out of this immense effort.

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Section: Other Diagnostic Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Science’s Response to COVID-19

Aye¹,

Long²

2021

Preprint

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“…For example, COVID-19 has greatly increased fear of bats worldwide, resulting in mass culling events and a subsequent outcry by conservation organisations to focus on the societal drivers of the pandemic rather than the wildlife hosts. 66 …”

Section: Research Findings Appliedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land use-induced spillover: a call to action to safeguard environmental, animal, and human health

Plowright

Reaser

Locke³

et al. 2021

The Lancet Planetary Health

196

159

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The rapid global spread and human health impacts of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, show humanity's vulnerability to zoonotic disease pandemics. Although anthropogenic land use change is known to be the major driver of zoonotic pathogen spillover from wildlife to human populations, the scientific underpinnings of land use-induced zoonotic spillover have rarely been investigated from the landscape perspective. We call for interdisciplinary collaborations to advance knowledge on land use implications for zoonotic disease emergence with a view toward informing the decisions needed to protect human health. In particular, we urge a mechanistic focus on the zoonotic pathogen infect–shed–spill–spread cascade to enable protection of landscape immunity—the ecological conditions that reduce the risk of pathogen spillover from reservoir hosts—as a conservation and biosecurity priority. Results are urgently needed to formulate an integrated, holistic set of science-based policy and management measures that effectively and cost-efficiently minimise zoonotic disease risk. We consider opportunities to better institute the necessary scientific collaboration, address primary technical challenges, and advance policy and management issues that warrant particular attention to effectively address health security from local to global scales.

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“…It is thought that certain stressors on bats such as disease or habitat loss for example, cause disruption of the viral-immune co-existence they possess. Upsetting this equilibrium therefore permits the multiplication of the virus, increasing its virulence and allowing transmission into other hosts (Rocha et al, 2020).…”

Section: Bats As Viral Reservoirsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fundamental Characteristics of Bat Interferon Systems

Clayton

Munir

2020

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.

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Interferons are an essential component of the innate arm of the immune system and are arguably one of the most important lines of defence against viruses. The human IFN system and its functionality has already been largely characterized and studied in detail. However, the IFN systems of bats have only been marginally examined to date up until the recent developments of the Bat1k project which have now opened new opportunities in research by identifying six new bat genomes to possess novel genes that are likely associated with viral tolerance exhibited in bats. Interestingly, bats have been hypothesized to possess the ability to establish a host-virus relationship where despite being infected, they exhibit limited signs of disease and still retain the ability to transmit the disease into other susceptible hosts. Bats are one of the most abundant and widespread vertebrates on the planet and host many zoonotic viruses that are highly pathogenic to humans. Several genomics, immunological, and biological features are thought to underlie novel antiviral mechanisms of bats. This review aims to explore the bat IFN system and developments in its diverse IFN features, focusing mainly on the model species, the Australian black flying fox (Pteropus alecto), while also highlighting bat innate immunity as an exciting and fruitful area of research to understand their ability to control viral-mediated pathogenesis.

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Bat conservation and zoonotic disease risk: a research agenda to prevent misguided persecution in the aftermath of COVID‐19

Cited by 53 publications

References 30 publications

Science’s Response to COVID-19

Science’s Response to COVID-19

Land use-induced spillover: a call to action to safeguard environmental, animal, and human health

Fundamental Characteristics of Bat Interferon Systems

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