Hope against Ebola from bats

Bats carry more than 100 viruses, including Ebola, rabies virus, and SARS, but are not infected. Mysterious bat species research is hoped to help deal with future viral diseases.

According to Fox News, Ebola research began since the first outbreak was discovered in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of Congo. So far, scientists studying this deadly disease and the World Health Organization have confirmed that rats are the natural hosts of Ebola, spreading the virus to humans and other animals.

Ebola transmission from bats to humans comes from the habit of eating wild animals of African people. In areas such as Central and West Africa, bat meat, antelopes, squirrels, porcupines have long been very popular in the menu. The process of slaughtering and processing increases the risk of exposure to infected blood and animal fluids, enabling the virus to spread to humans. This makes bats are becoming an obsession about a mobile disease, especially in African forests, the main habitat of this animal when the Ebola epidemic is raging.

Bats are hosts of Ebola virus but they are also popular food of African people.(Photo: foxnews.com)

Immunity to bats living in the body is evoking much curiosity for the scientific community. Researchers hope this secret decoding will help find effective ways to deal with dangerous viruses like Ebola.

The first clue to the studies stems from genetic analysis, which suggests that factors that help bats escape from the threat of viruses may be related to their ability to fly.

Flight operations require the metabolic system to work at high speed, causing pressure and potential damage to the cells in the body. To accommodate this activity, bats may have developed mechanisms that keep certain parts of the immune system in a continuous state.

According to research by Michelle Baker, from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, the bat body maintains a particularly high concentration of a protein compared to humans. This protein is produced by the cell when the virus invades, to prevent the development of the virus. This may be another reason why bats don't get sick even though they carry the virus.

According to Baker, all these studies and comments are just the starting point. However, the expert is also optimistic, saying: 'If you can understand how bats deal with killer viruses in your body and find ways to adjust the immune systems of other species to get those Similar reactions to bats, they will lead to new approaches to treatment '.

In addition to being able to live in harmony with the virus, bats also have a surprising lifespan. The Myotis branditii bat, which usually lives in Europe and Asia, can live up to 40 years despite its small size as a mouse. Bats also rarely get cancer, the disease that kills millions of people around the world every year.