Today is Bat Appreciation Day, and Twitter users are celebrating the furry, flying mammals in the face of reports that they were the source of the virus that causes COVID-19.
The Mumbai Times reports: Did the flying mammal really bring the entire world to a grinding halt and onto its knees? Well, the short answer is, we're not sure yet. Researchers are still trying to decode how the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen (the virus that causes the disease COVID-19) jumped from animals to humans. However, here's what we do know: Bats, the second-largest order of mammals after rodents, have been shown to carry a number of deadly infections, including rabies and viruses related to SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), Ebola and Nipah. It is important to clarify that despite much conjecture, there is no concrete scientific proof, so far, that the COVID-19 has taken flight from bats. Additionally, according to Bat Conservation International, bats carrying coronaviruses in the wild, undisturbed by people, are not a threat to human health. Bats often tend to get a bad reputation as they are associated with darkness and death in many cultures. In fact, the winged creatures play a beneficiary role in our natural environments by acting as pest controllers. They also pollinate flowers and disperse seeds enabling the sustenance of ecosystems. Even bat droppings act as a rich, natural fertilizer.
