If the planet wants to reduce the likelihood of new pandemicsthen you should improve the way you interact with them the batsthat carry viruses that have caused some of the worst health crises in recent years, scientists say.

However, efforts to prevent new pandemics are being complicated by a number of economic and political factors that make it difficult for world leaders to find satisfactory solutions. And, as with the climate crisis, failure to tackle the problem can be disastrous.

Four measures – “keys”

There are at least four measures that should be taken to avoid such a development, experts emphasize:

“Governments must identify and acknowledge the risks associated with areas with significant bat populations and work together to ensure they can respond to potential disease outbreaks.

“More funding needed: The World Bank and others estimate that $10 billion a year is needed to support developing countries in their efforts to control disease outbreaks.

“Authorities must find ways to make risk assessment mandatory before green-lighting work that could disrupt the environment in areas where bats live.

“Scientists must continue to study bats, the ecosystems around them, and how they behave when humans invade their territory.

“Best Host”

Measures such as those described above are aimed at reducing the likelihood of transmission of the virus from one species to another, for example: from bats to humans. Bats are of particular concern because the viruses they carry have been responsible for some of the deadliest outbreaks in decades, including Ebola, SARS and Marburg disease.

It is also noted that the coronavirus that causes Covid-19 is also related to a group of coronaviruses found in bats in Southeast Asia, although scientists still cannot be sure how the disease got to people.

“When dealing with viruses in mammals, you can’t find a better host than bats because of their ability to spread the virus over long distances,” says Hume Field, a veterinary epidemiologist who has been involved in more than 300 studies on bats and viruses. .

Therefore, it is extremely important to understand the above and know in which areas this risk is most likely, the scientists emphasize.

^{Source: Reuters.}