Joseph
Castro, LiveScience Contributor
Date:
06 February 2013 Time: 09:25 AM ET
Many
animals harbor viruses that can jump to other species, but bats may be in a
class of their own when it comes to carrying zoonotic (human-infecting)
viruses. Bats are reservoirs for more than 60 viruses that can infect humans,
and host more viruses per species than even rodents do, new research shows.
"There
seems to be something different about bats in terms of being able to host zoonotic
infections," study researcher David Hayman, a wildlife epidemiologist
at Colorado State University (CSU), told LiveScience.
In
recent years, bats have received a lot of attention for their virus-hosting
abilities. They've been shown to carry a number of harmful infections,
including rabies and viruses related to SARS (severe acute respiratory
syndrome). Moreover, research suggests bats may be the original
hosts of nasty viruses such as Ebola and Nipah, which causes deadly
brain fevers in people.
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