d*******y
发帖数: 2710 | 1 【 以下文字转载自 Military 讨论区 】
发信人: lubbock12 (非老非小将), 信区: Military
标 题: 看看澳大利亚人如何为自己的蝙蝠辩护
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Tue May 5 17:46:51 2020, 美东)
1 我们澳洲的蝙蝠绝不带有COVID-19和其他危险冠状病毒
2 我们澳洲蝙蝠是wildlife，而华南市场那些动物非常stressful, stressful以后就容
易变得viral,传染人
3. 我们澳洲蝙蝠对人类都很友善，就是偶尔到城市里面寻找一下食物。
4 我们澳洲除了果蝠之外就没有其他蝙蝠了
https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/wildlife/2020/04/do-our-fruit
-bats-carry-the-virus-behind-covid-19/
Do our fruit bats carry the virus behind COVID-19
Issue 155 Out Now
Do our fruit bats carry the virus behind COVID-19?
Pictures of Australian fruit bats are accompanying news reports on the
source of COVID-19.
By Clare Woolston • April 23, 2020 • Reading Time: 4 Minutes
Because of COVID-19 reporting, our misunderstood flying-foxes’ reputation
may get worse. Image credit: Howard Ferrier/Alamy Stock Photo
BECAUSE OF THESE reports, Australians living close to large colonies of
fruit bats, otherwise known as flying-foxes, might be wondering if they
carry deadly coronaviruses.
Flying-foxes don’t have the COVID-19 virus
SARS-Cov-2 is the virus behind the COVID-19 pandemic. There are many reports
the virus jumped from bats, possibly to another species, then to humans
because of wildlife trade at a market in Wuhan, China.
Related Video
Although this is a leading theory, the reality is the scientific community
is still tracking down the wildlife source. Alison Peel, a bat health expert
with the Environmental Futures Research Institute at Griffith University,
says, “at the moment we don’t exactly know what the origin of SARS-CoV-2
is”.
What we do know is several Australian bat species carry coronaviruses. Do
not fear, though. Keep in mind the common cold is a coronavirus.
Those found in Australian bats are not ones that cause Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome, Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome and COVID-19.
“There is no evidence that SARS-Cov-2 or related viruses are present in
Australian wildlife and that includes bats,” says Alison.
Related: Flying fox foreplay takes the Spiderman kiss to a whole new level
Living next to flying-fox colonies is not high risk
Before COVID-19, some people already feared our flying-foxes because of
Australian Bat Lyssavirus and Hendra virus.
Contracting these diseases is extremely rare. In humans, there have only
been three cases of Australian Bat Lyssavirus and seven cases of Hendra
virus.
You contract Australian Bat Lyssavirus if an infected animal bites you. If
you don’t handle bats, there is no risk.
With Hendra, you contract it from an infected horse that in turn got it from
food infected with bat urine, saliva or birth products. You cannot get it
directly from an infected bat. Andrew Peters, a wildlife health expert with
Charles Sturt University, says, “if you vaccinate your horse, you are safe
”.
What about those other coronaviruses in Australian bats? Will neighbourhoods
with flying-fox colonies known as ‘camps’ suddenly start experiencing
outbreaks of deadly diseases? This is highly unlikely.
The reason for this, Alison explains, is “a set of conditions must be
satisfied for a virus to successfully shift out of its normal reservoir host
into other species.” The wildlife trade often has these conditions.
“Flying-fox camps are natural roosting locations. They are very different
from the cramped, stressful and unhygienic conditions that animals in the
wildlife trade are in,” she says.
Related: This video shows ‘bat midwives’ may exist and it’s amazing
Wildlife trade may have been a critical factor in the COVID-19 pandemic
Sixty-six per cent of the first COVID-19 cases were traced to a market in
Wuhan. The market houses different species of live, wild animals close
together, with humans frequently handling them.
“Wild animals that are captured, transported and held in these conditions
are very stressed. Stress is one of the key drivers of increasing the
intensity and shedding of a viral infection,” says Andrew.
This environment creates opportunities for viruses to transmit between
species.
However, we may never know if the market was the source. Alison explains: “
Our best chance of understanding it is to do more intensive sampling in both
bats, pangolins and other species within the region of China where the
pandemic emerged.”
Related: This is why bats can carry deadly disease with little effect on
their health
Endangered flying-foxes are moving into cities to find food
Because of COVID-19 reporting, our misunderstood flying-foxes’ reputation
may get worse.
Grey-headed flying-foxes, an endangered species, are moving into cities and
establishing camps. This can cause distress to people through noise, odour
and disease transmission fears.
But spare a thought for flying-foxes. They have lost their winter food
source. Land-clearing combined with natural cyclical changes between El Nino
and La Nina is causing both chronic and acute food shortages for them.
The flying-foxes traditional winter food source is winter-flowering eucalypt
forests. These have been over-cleared.
“We think that the amount of forest has gotten so critically low that a
proportion of bats are choosing to stay within urban environments and feed
on reliable food sources,” says Alison.
“Many people think that flying-foxes are increasing in numbers, but they’
re not. Instead of being out in the bush where you can’t see them most of
the time, many are now living near our houses and feeding on our trees and
weeds in gardens,” she says.
Related: ‘The first irretrievable failure of the EPBC Act’: the case of
the Christmas Island pipistrelle
Flying-foxes play a crucial role in keeping our forest ecosystems healthy
Each night flying-foxes cover vast distances, winging through the air in
search of food. This ability to travel many kilometres “means they can
connect pockets of forest that are increasingly fragmented by development,”
says Alison.
“Like many species of insects and birds, flying-foxes are pollinators.
Without them, we wouldn’t have healthy forests that support other species
like koalas and that have significant economic value.”
Related: 10 Australian keystone endangered species
We need to change how we relate to the natural world to prevent future
pandemics
The COVID-19 outbreak is a mirror, starkly reflecting our impact on the
natural world. Andrew explains: “When we look at the emerging pandemics in
human history, it is really through the way we change our relationship with
wildlife that has led to those.
“If we want to deal with this in the long-term it isn’t so much about
worrying about the wildlife in our urban areas; it is more about us starting
to relieve some of the pressure that is leading to large scale ecological
disruption.
“It is this interference with the natural environment that leads to that
disruption and spillover of viruses into people.”
To reduce ecological disruption for our flying-foxes, the best thing we can
do is to “restore the food sources that they use in winter. That is a win-
win for us and them,” says Andrew. |
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