Cross-species virus spread study

A study led by the University of Stirling jointly with the University of Wisconsin-madison has shed new light on cross-species virus spillovers that can cause pandemics.

A researcher from the Faculty of Natural Sciences at Stirling discovered animals in an African forest eating bat excrement known as guano after a key food source in the region disappeared following selective deforestation.

Lab analysis of the bat guano identified a range of viruses, including a betacoronavirus related to SARSCOV-2, the virus that caused the Covid-19 pandemic.

It remains unknown whether the betacoronavirus found in the guano is transmissible to humans, but it does offer an example of how new infections might jump species barriers.

The study was prompted when Dr Pawel Fedurek observed wild chimpanzees consume bat guano from a tree hollow in Budongo Forest, Uganda. Dr Fedurek then set up cameras which recorded chimps, monkeys and antelope eating the excrement (please see notes to editors for link to footage of chimpanzees in Budongo Forest, Uganda, consuming bat guano).

The guano is an alternative source of crucial minerals after the palm trees the mammals once consumed were harvested to extinction locally. The palm was used by people in Budongo to dry tobacco leaves which are then sold to international companies.

Scientists do not yet fully understand the earliest stages of virus spillovers, which can lead to the deaths of tens of thousands of people, but they are thought to involve complex causal chains that begin with humans altering the environment. It is hoped the discovery may make it possible to enact interventions that break these sorts of causal chains, ultimately helping prevent future pandemics.

The paper Selective deforestation and exposure of African wildlife to bat-borne viruses was published in the journal Communications Biology.