A research article published in the journal ‘Nature’ suggests bats, not game meat to be the source of the new Coronavirus epidemic. Earlier it was doubted that the Wuhan market, in which game meat is sold may be the epicenter of the epidemic. Chinese hunters sell their priced catch mainly deers and wild Ox in the Wuhan market. But snakes, otters and all forms of exotic meat are also available in Wuhan’s central market. A new genome sequence study from a smear test done on an early patient working in the market shows the nCoV closely resembles a SARS-like virus found in bats.
The bats, the only flying mammal are considered to be at the peak of their evolution. Bats belong to the same family of dogs and its head resembles that of a fox. Lacking the major flight features typical of birds the bats utilize enormous energy to lift their heavy bodies up in the air and take flight. Their body is considered to be a reservoir of viruses although they are not affected by them.
This is because the bat’s immune system is dormant to Virus activities and as such without resistance, the virus exists in a type of symbiotic association with the host body. The genome mapping of bats is hard-wired for genetic evolution rather than to ward of virus attacks. The high rate of exercise done by bats during flying makes their DNA strands to release through orbito-facial glands and may infect anyone with the secretions of the glands. It is increasingly worrying that the mainly fruit-eating bats may propagate the disease through fruits and vegetables consumed by humans. Scientists opinion the bats propagate viruses only when their normal habitat is disturbed. Earlier, the Nippa virus epidemic which affected Kerala a year ago had also its source traced to fruit-eating bats.
The study is not conclusive and the researchers note that other possible routes may be possible, and more patient data is needed to investigate the transmission routes further.
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