CANBERA (dpa-AFX) - New research by the University of Sydney is offering important insights into how young bats with multiple infections may drive new coronavirus strains in nature.
Bats host a high diversity of coronaviruses, including betacoronaviruses that have caused outbreaks and pandemics in humans and other species.
Disease risks can emerge as bats' habitat destruction and environmental stressors put them in closer proximity to humans. The research, published in Nature Communications, offers an approach to anticipating the emergence of coronaviruses.
It found young bats are infected more frequently and could be a key source of viral spillover into other species. The study also reveals the dynamics of coronaviruses circulating in Australian bats, which pose no known risk to humans.
Endemic in bat populations, most coronaviruses never infect humans. When they do, as with the SARS, COVID-19 and MERS outbreaks, they typically spill over from bats though a bridging animal host, the study finds.
'Coronaviruses tend not to be of major concern to bats,' said Dr. Alison Peel from the University's School of Veterinary Science, who led the study. 'But they can behave differently if they spill over to new species.'
A three-year study based on viral testing of the samples collected from flying fox bats at five roost sites across eastern Australia showed coronaviruses were most prevalent in young bats between March and July, around the time of weaning and approaching maturity.
Particularly notable was the high proportion of bats infected with multiple coronaviruses at once.
'Co-infection presents the opportunity for a single cell to become infected with multiple viruses, an important natural precursor to the generation of new strains,' Dr. Peel said.
'We safely tracked how and when coronaviruses circulated naturally in bat populations. Using genomics to track infections to individual animals,' Dr. John-Sebastian Eden, a study co-author from the Westmead Institute for Medical Research and the University's Faculty of Medicine and Health.
'The results offer a model for scientists looking to understand coronavirus emergence and future risks in bat populations around the world. By focusing on co-infections in young bats during certain periods, researchers might better predict the natural evolution and emergence of riskier coronaviruses before they pose a risk to human health.'
Dr. Peel said more research is needed to understand why young bats are more susceptible to infection and co-infection.
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