2023-07-09 17:15:21
Bats are essential to the world’s ecosystems, but they are known carriers of several viruses. Humans are increasingly encroaching on their habitats, increasing the risk of further pandemics, so scientists are studying bats for clues on how to prevent any further outbreaks.
Dusk is witch time at Accra Zoo. This is when the captive colony of straw-colored fruit bats start to get agitated and the best time they can be tested for different pathogens.
A team of scientists from the University of Ghana Veterinary School are there to analyze bat droppings, or guano.
They are involved in an international effort to predict the next pandemic and even in the extreme heat of Ghana’s rainy season they dress in full PPE. They enter the compound and spread a white tarp on the ground.
Lead scientist Dr. Richard Suu-ire has studied bats for many years. He explains that PPE is necessary “to protect you from any infections you might pick up in the cage, but also to prevent bats from getting anything from us. So it’s a two-way protection.”
Much remains a mystery regarding these animals – the only flying mammals – and their extraordinary immune systems. Somehow bats can carry many viruses but don’t seem to get sick themselves.
Ghana has joined countries like Bangladesh and Australia in a global project called Bat OneHealth, which studies how pathogens are passed from one species to another and what can be done to prevent events. overflow.
In light of the Covid pandemic, the bat-borne viruses that this research focuses on include coronaviruses.
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