Scientists Focus Research On Bats To Prevent Next Pandemic

Posted by: Kyeyune Andrew Jonathan in world news December 14, 2020

Four scientists from Brazil have switched on their flashlights and headed into the dense rain forest. The four are on a mission to capture bats for research to help prevent the next worldwide pandemic.

This stunt makes one almost feel like they are sure there’s another pandemic on the way after Covid-19 is over. The prayer though, is that these very doctors don’t become the ones that carry the next pandemic back from the wild.

The research is part of a project at Brazil’s state-run Fiocruz Institute to collect viruses from wild animals. These includes bats, which many scientists link to the outbreak of COVID-19.

The current goal now is to identify other viruses and determine how contagious and lethal they might be in humans. Thereafter, they will use this information to devise plans to stop them from ever infecting people. They will also help to forestall the next potential global disease outbreak before starts.

An outbreak in one place could endanger the entire globe due to its high connectivity socially, just as the coronavirus did. The Brazilian team is just one of the many worldwide racing to minimize the risk of a second pandemic this century.

Bats are thought to be the original or intermediary hosts for multiple viruses that have spawned recent epidemics. These epidemics include SARS, MERS, Ebola, Nipah virus, Hendra virus and Marburg virus.

Therefore, it is not a coincidence that many disease scientists are focusing their attention on bats, the world’s only flying mammal.

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