Does Coronavirus Exist to Help Bats Feed? And Control Predators?

[McCamy Taylor]

This discussion thread was locked as off-topic by Omaha Steve (a host of the The DU Lounge forum).

West Nile Virus and other mosquito born encephalitis viruses aid blood drinkers. They turn the source of blood into passive buffet tables who just lie there, oblivious, febrile (breathing out lots of CO2 which is how mosquitoes find their prey). A few people/other animal hosts die. Many more just turn into zombies for a week or two. And the rest are fine. They run around allowing other mosquitoes to drink their blood and spread the infection.

In addition to causing encephalitis, WNV has been associated with new cases of myasthenia gravis a condition that causes profound weakness by inhibiting the function of nerve/muscle junctions.

So, what if coronavirus, which scientists believe evolved in and are carried by bats (who are not affected by the virus) serves a similar function? What if coronavirus has a combo respiratory/immune/ neurological effect on its human/animal hosts that causes severe illness in some (but not all) wich in turn causes weakness which turns those infected into blood buffets for blood drinking (aka vampire) bats? (At the end of this piece I will post a bunch of links)

Bats are one of the oldest most successful mammalian species.UP to 50 million years old and distributed all across the world. They have had much more time to adapt than humans. And the fact that they have remained bats for all these millions of years means that they have had millions of years to develop adaptations to improve their chances of survival.

Bats have the ability to fly because they are so light. They have eliminated many of the things other mammals have--including long digestive tracts. That is why sugar water (fruit) and blood are suitable food for them. Low weight easy to digest full of nutrients.

Vampire bats face challenges including the possibility that they will not encounter their necessary food sources (mammals and bird and not just any mammals and birds, some can only feed off specific prey) at night when they feed. So they have evolved a variety of strategies to deal with food shortages. Like snakes, they can sense heat in their prey--meaning febrile prey will be easier to find. They have developed a very complex,matriarchal social structure that includes empathy for other bats--a vampire bat will regurgitate a blood meal for a starving member of their colony.

One of the natural predators of vampire bats is the domesticated cat. Cats will lie in wait while bats drink a blood meal and then pounce upon the blood laden, heavier than usual bat. Feeling sorry for the poor bat that gets mugged on on his way home from the diner? Don't. Once of the most dangerous infections for cats is feline infection peritonitis. And it is (wait for it)...a coronavirus.


https://www.karger.com/Article/PDF/115275

West nile virus infection and myasthenia gravis
A. Arturo Leis MD

Gabriella Szatmary MD, PhD

Mark A. Ross MD

Dobrivoje S. Stokic MD, DSc
First published:05 April 2013

https://doi.org/10.1002/mus.23869
Citations: 25
This work was supported in part by the Wilson Research Foundation, Jackson, Mississippi.
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ABSTRACT
Introduction: Viruses are commonly cited as triggers for autoimmune disease. It is unclear if West Nile virus (WNV) initiates autoimmunity. Methods: We describe 6 cases of myasthenia gravis (MG) that developed several months after WNV infection. All patients had serologically confirmed WNV neuroinvasive disease. None had evidence of MG before WNV. Results: All patients had stable neurological deficits when they developed new symptoms of MG 3 to 7 months after WNV infection. However, residual deficits from WNV confounded or delayed MG diagnosis. All patients had elevated acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibodies, and 1 had thymoma. Treatment varied, but 4 patients required acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, multiple immunosuppressive drugs, and intravenous immune globulin or plasmapheresis for recurrent MG crises. Conclusions: The pathogenic mechanism of MG following WNV remains uncertain. We hypothesize that WNV‐triggered autoimmunity breaks immunological self‐tolerance to initiate MG, possibly through molecular mimicry between virus antigens and AChR subunits or other autoimmune mechanisms. Muscle Nerve 49: 26–29, 2014
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1413-86702008000600003

A coronavirus detected in the vampire bat Desmodus

Rotundus



Paulo Eduardo BrandãoI,II; Karin SchefferIII,II; Laura Yaneth VillarrealIV,II; Samira AchkarIII; Rafael de Novaes OliveiraIII,II; Willian de Oliveira FahlIII,II; Juliana Galera CastilhoII,III; Ivanete KotaitIII,II; Leonardo José RichtzenhainI,II
IDepartment of Preventive Veterinary Medicine and Animal Health, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo
IICoronavirus Research Group
IIIPasteur Institute
IVIntervet-Schering Plough; São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Address for correspondence


________________________________________

ABSTRACT
This article reports on the identification of a group 2 coronavirus (BatCoV DR/2007) in a Desmodus rotundus vampire bat in Brazil. Phylogenetic analysis of ORF1b revealed that BatCoV DR/2007 originates from a unique lineage in the archetypical group 2 coronaviruses, as described for bat species elsewhere with putative importance in Public Health.
Key-Words: Coronavirus, Vampire bat, RNA-dependent RNA-polymerase.

________________________________________




https://virologyj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1743-422X-10-304

Adaptive evolution of bat dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (dpp4): implications for the origin and emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus
• Jie Cui,
• John-Sebastian Eden,
• Edward C Holmes &
• Lin-Fa Wang
Virology Journal volume 10, Article number: 304 (2013) Cite this article
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Abstract
Background

The newly emerged Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) that first appeared in Saudi Arabia during the summer of 2012 has to date (20th September 2013) caused 58 human deaths. MERS-CoV utilizes the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP4) host cell receptor, and analysis of the long-term interaction between virus and receptor provides key information on the evolutionary events that lead to the viral emergence.
Findings
We show that bat DPP4 genes have been subject to significant adaptive evolution, suggestive of a long-term arms-race between bats and MERS related CoVs. In particular, we identify three positively selected residues in DPP4 that directly interact with the viral surface glycoprotein.
Conclusions
Our study suggests that the evolutionary lineage leading to MERS-CoV may have circulated in bats for a substantial time period.

http://www.newmicrobiologica.org/PUB/allegati_pdf/2012/1/1.pdf

The SARS-like coronaviruses: the role of bats and evolutionary relationships with SARS coronavirus Andrea Balboni, Mara Battilani, Santino Prosperi Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche Veterinarie, Facoltà di Medicina Veterinaria, Alma Mater Studiorum-Università di Bologna, Ozzano dell’Emilia, Bologna, Italy

Bats represent an order of great evolutionary success, with elevated geographical diffusion and species diversity. This order harbors viruses of high variability which have a great possibility of acquiring the capacity of infecting other animals, including humans. Bats are the natural reservoir for several viruses genetically closely related to the SARScoronavirus which is the etiological agent of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), a human epidemic which emerged in China in 2002-2003. In the last few years, it has been discovered that the association between coronaviruses and bats is a worldwide phenomenon, and it has been hypothesised that all mammalian coronaviruses were derived from ancestral viruses residing in bats. This review analyzes the role of bats as a reservoir of zoonotic viruses focusing more extensively on SARS-related coronaviruses and taking into account the role of African and European strains in the evolutionary history of these viruses.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1879625716301341

While numerous animals have been surveyed in the past decade, bats continue to be among the most abundant source for novel viral sequences [7]. Bat species are among the oldest mammals and represent 20% of mammalian diversity [8]; they exist and occupy diverse niches from isolated individuals to large commensal colonies with broad geographic ranges that can span thousands of miles. Importantly, their great diversity and long co-evolutionary relationships with pathogens provide the opportunity for cross species mixing and maintenance of quasi-species pools of viruses that can infect a range of hosts [9, 10]. Yet, despite harboring such a diverse assortment of viruses, surveyed bats rarely exhibit signs of disease. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain these asymptomatic infections. One postulates that bats, the only flying mammal, produce large amounts of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and, in response, have modulated genes to limit oxidative stress [11], which may result in reduced viral replication and pathogenesis [12]. Similarly, a modified innate immune response may also contribute to the diverse viral pools harbored by bats. Known PYHIN (PYRIN and HIN domain-containing) genes within the inflammasome pathway and natural killer immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs) are absent or significantly reduced in some surveyed bat species, potentially limiting disease and damage following infection [11, 13]. In addition, constitutive expression of bat interferon subtypes likely limits disease but permits low-level viral infection to remain intact [14]. A third possibility suggests a commensal relationship between the harbored viruses and bat species [15]. As primarily identified from enteric samples (i.e., bat guano), these pools of viruses may serve a critical role in the bat microbiome to prime immunity, a concept similarly proposed for humans with herpes viruses [16]. Finally, enteric infection represents a significantly different tissue than the respiratory tract in terms of disease and adaptive immunity; thus, virus tropism differences between species and tissues may also contribute to limiting disease in bats. Similarly, while recent work has shown intact elements of adaptive immunity in bat species [17, 18, 19], the enteric location may generate a dampened adaptive response that permits viral maintenance similar to the members of the microbiome in humans [20]. Together, these factors likely work in combination and indicate how diverse pools of CoV quasi-species can survive in bat populations.
While bat species maintain factors that permit virus persistence, the unique host environment also promotes broad diversity in CoV quasi-species pools. As a result of flight, accumulation of ROS species may occur for short periods of time and have been shown to have mutagenic effects, potentially overwhelming CoV proofreading repair and/or altering viral polymerase fidelity and increasing species diversity, a possible key to cross-species transmission [21]. Similarly, the constitutive expression of type I IFN in bat hosts may select for advantageous viral mutations that enhance resistance to innate immune antiviral defense pathways and provide a replication advantage, especially after cross species transmission [14]. Conversely, the absence of key inflammatory mediators in bat species provides no selective pressure to minimize these responses [13]; subsequently, infection of a new host could result in massive and pathogenic inflammation responses, as seen with both SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV infections in humans [22, 23]. Overall, the unique aspects that permit quasi-species pools of viruses in bats also contribute to their diversity and potential to emerge in new species.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/rmv.520

Bats as a continuing source of emerging infections in humans
Samson Wong

Susanna Lau

Patrick Woo

Kwok‐Yung Yuen
First published:16 October 2006

https://doi.org/10.1002/rmv.520
Citations: 175
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Abstract

Amongst the 60 viral species reported to be associated with bats, 59 are RNA viruses, which are potentially important in the generation of emerging and re‐emerging infections in humans. The prime examples of these are the lyssaviruses and Henipavirus. The transmission of Nipah, Hendra and perhaps SARS coronavirus and Ebola virus to humans may involve intermediate amplification hosts such as pigs, horses, civets and primates, respectively. Understanding of the natural reservoir or introductory host, the amplifying host, the epidemic centre and at‐risk human populations are crucial in the control of emerging zoonosis. The association between the bat coronaviruses and certain lyssaviruses with particular bat species implies co‐evolution between specific viruses and bat hosts. Cross‐infection between the huge number of bat species may generate new viruses which are able to jump the trans‐mammalian species barrier more efficiently. The currently known viruses that have been found in bats are reviewed and the risks of transmission to humans are highlighted. Certain families of bats including the Pteropodidae, Molossidae, Phyllostomidae, and Vespertilionidae are most frequently associated with known human pathogens. A systematic survey of bats is warranted to better understand the ecology of these viruses. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0168159194901341

Domestic cat predation on vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) while foraging on goats, pigs, cows and human beings
Author links open overlay panelH.DelpietroaF.KonolsaisenbN.MarchevskyaG.Russoa
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https://doi.org/10.1016/0168-1591(94)90134-1Get rights and content
Abstract

This paper describes domestic cat (Felis catus) predation on vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) foraging on goats, pigs, cows and human beings. The cat captures the bat chiefly at the moment of approaching its prey or when the prey defends itself or after feeding when the weight of the bat's ingesta hinders the bat from escape. Both the cat and the livestock exhibit a mutually beneficial partnership; while the cat increases its chances of capturing the bats, the prey species is attacked less. The attacks of cats on vampire bats were noticed in ecologically different regions, but had two characteristics in common: (1) livestock strongly attacked by vampire bats; (2) livestock spending the night adjacent to the owner's house. Within such a context, cats are efficient vampire predators. In all cases, the differences between the proportion of bitten animals among prey species ‘associated with the cat’ and the ‘nonassociated’ ones are evident. Differences were also noticed at the same farm before and after having brought a cat in. Observations regarding the cat and the cryptic behaviour displayed be the vampire while feeding suggest that, in nature, it is feasible that there is a certain kind of association or mutual tolerance between vampires' prey and other vampire bat predators. Our observations are also consistent with De Verteuil and Urich's (1936) remarks, that man is only an alternative prey for the vampire when livestock are very scarce or nonexistent.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0a6d/2d51211b4ab745f0af000920a700cecbf820.pdf

Animal coronaviruses: what can they teach us about the severe acute respiratory syndrome?

Lessons a) Coronaviruses were long-recognised and studied by veterinary scientists as major causes of potentially fatal respiratory and enteric infections in animals. Moreover, such studies emphasised the potential of CoVs for interspecies transmission, but the medical research community was largely unaware of these findings or their implications for public health based on experiences with low impact human CoV infections. This knowledge base from research on animal CoVs contributed significantly to the rapid progress in the characterisation of SARS CoV and will enhance the future development and testing of vaccines and antivirals for SARS. b) Given that an estimated 75% of newly emerging pathogens in humans are zoonotic and based on experiences with SARS CoV, veterinary scientists are essential partners for disease control and public health management. Their input and assistance should involve the identification and management of animal reservoirs for newly emerged zoonotic pathogens.

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/vmi/2010/809480/

Feline coronaviruses (FCoVs) are found throughout the world. Infection with FCoV can result in a diverse range of signs from clinically inapparent infections to a highly fatal disease called feline infectious peritonitis (FIP). FIP is one of the most serious viral diseases of cats. While there is neither an effective vaccine, nor a curative treatment for FIP, a diagnostic protocol for FCoV would greatly assist in the management and control of the virus. Clinical findings in FIP are non-specific and not helpful in making a differential diagnosis. Haematological and biochemical abnormalities in FIP cases are also non-specific. The currently available serological tests have low specificity and sensitivity for detection of active infection and cross-react with FCoV strains of low pathogenicity, the feline enteric coronaviruses (FECV). Reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) has been used to detect FCoV and is rapid and sensitive, but results must be interpreted in the context of clinical findings. At present, a definitive diagnosis of FIP can be established only by histopathological examination of biopsies. This paper describes and compares diagnostic methods for FCoVs and includes a brief account of the virus biology, epidemiology, and pathogenesis.

[Coventina]

1. WE SHOULD NOT BE EATING THEM! There, problem solved!

[McCamy Taylor]

3. Who eats bats? Besides cats.

[Coventina]

4. Here, but nauseating:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bat_as_food

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

6. Those are fruit bats (which are quite large), not vampire bats.

But I don't think I'd want to eat them anyhow.

[Coventina]

7. Regardless of what the bats eat, their meat is considered a likely vector for

species-crossing viruses.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. Darn, and I was all set to prepare a nice Bat Wellington for dinner,

or maybe some Bat Bourguignon.

[Coventina]

9. Not to mention that bats are critical to the ecological systems they inhabit.

And most bat species are under intense pressures from various sources.

The last thing we need is for people to be eating them!

The older I get, the more I hate, yes, actively HATE my species.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. Locally, bats are coming down with something called white-nose disease.

I like bats (but not as food, obviously). I've set out a bat house in my back yard, though I don't know if they are using it. They eat a lot of mosquitoes.

[Coventina]

11. Yay! I've always wanted to put up a bat house.

Never got a round tuit, yet.
Maybe with this enforced home stay I'll finally do it.

I do have a pollinator house, though.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

12. I have one of those, too, and it's always been occupied.

Even better are bundles of hollow stems. I cut down my Joe-Pye weed after it dies back in the fall and leave the hollow stems out for bees to nest in. I also leave little patches of bare ground near rocks for ground-dwelling bees to burrow and nest in. I am fighting a long-standing battle with my asshole next-door neighbor who thinks residential yards should look like golf courses. Mine does not. A few years ago he sprayed Round-Up all along my side of the property line because he didn't like my native plants. Had to get a lawyer involved. It hasn't happened again.

[Coventina]

13. Oh how horrible!

I hope your municipal government was on your side.

Ours is hit or miss.

They encourage "desert landscaping" to conserve water, however, it has to be faux- desert. You have to put gravel down, can't have exposed dirt. (Even though that's what real desert is.)

Also, you can't have anything that even looks like weeds without being cited. In other words, ornamental grasses and such are forbidden. All you can have in your front lawn is either: traditional suburban lawn or gravel with cacti.

Backyards can be whatever you want, thank goodness.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

14. Turning lawns, including front lawns, into gardens is getting to be a thing

around here (Minneapolis). The city actually encourages it, as long as the garden is well-maintained and not full of weeds. The same asshole neighbor reported to the city that I had poison ivy in my yard, which I definitely did not, and I had to explain to an inspector the difference between poison ivy and hog peanut (a native legume with 3 leaflets that doesn't even look like poison ivy). Bummer that all you can have is gravel and cacti. I have cacti, too - there's a species of prickly pear that survives here quite nicely. A few blocks away from here someone planted a whole bunch of them:

[Coventina]

15. Good grief! What a miserable human being!

I had no idea cacti could live outdoors in your area!
Fascinating!

We have two huge so-called "Indian Fruit" prickly pear in our front yard. They get that name because they produce a bumper crop of fruit every fall.

The first year we lived in the house, we tried to harvest and use them. It's really long, involved process that requires very delicate handling (even the fruit has stickers on it!). After that, we've left all the bounty for the birds adapted to deal with it.


In the early spring, before the plant flowers, the honey bees harvest the inside of the fruits left over by the birds.
It's a fascinating cycle to watch.

[jmbar2]

2. Fascinating stuff - thanks

If the bat terrorists control this whole thing, give 'em whatever they want to stop.

Dear Bats, you can have all the bugs.

[msongs]

5. vampire bats are only found in tropical parts of the american continents nt

[Omaha Steve]

16. After a review by forum hosts....LOCKING

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