Bats can survive coronaviruses: Study

TORONTO: Scientists have uncovered how bats can carry the MERS coronavirus without getting sick, shedding light on what triggers coronaviruses to jump to humans.

According to a study done by researchers at University of Saskatchewan in Canada, published in Scientific Reports, bats are unharmed by coronaviruses because of their “unique super-immunity” to pathogens.

The university’s microbiologist Vikram Misra said, “Instead of killing bat cells as the virus does with human cells, the MERS coronavirus enters into a long-term relationship with the host (bat), maintained by the bat’s unique super-immune system.”

He said that when a bat undergoes stress, the balance gets disrupted, causing the pathogen to multiply and transmit to humans when the scope arrives.