A study done by a research team from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) has discovered why bats can have the MERS coronavirus and not get sick at all.
The study might shed some light on how bats acquired the immunity and also what factor determined the jump to other species to homo sapiens.
MERS are coronaviruses just like the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and now the COVID19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus that is now killing people worldwide.
The current toll from the coronavirus stands at 4,194,834 cases, and 284,022 deaths to date.
COVID-19, in particular, is determined to be ascended from bats, which can handle the viruses but is fatal for humans as seen. But, the challenge is coming up with a good explanation of how that happens.
There are some conclusions about how coronavirus and bats co-exist without killing the host animal. Scientists wanted to know why MERS was well tolerated and did shut the bat's immune system as it does in humans, according to USask microbiologist Vikram Misra.
According to Scientific Reports, the group has shown in a series of tests that cells from an insect-eating brown bat were infected several times. But the bat and the virus had adaptations which negated the ill effects of the coronavirus.
Misra said, "Instead of killing bat cells as the virus does with human cells, the MERS coronavirus enters a long-term relationship with the host, maintained by the bat's unique 'super' immune system." He added that the SARS-CoV-2 may work the same way as the MERS virus.
Based on the study, she suggests that bats are the main factor, and wet markets, other diseases, and possible habitat loss will be some factors that play a role in the transmission to other species.
Also read : Are Bats to Blame for Coronavirus?
According to Misra, there is a balance in the immune system of the bat. When there is stress that is experienced by the animal, the viruses multiply which was observed in the findings. This natural mechanism might be responsible for the transmission to humans.
Lab work was accomplished at USask's Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization, International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac), which is one of the biggest containment level 3 research facilities by a team of researchers from USask's Western College of Veterinary Medicine and VIDO-InterVac.
VIDO-InterVac scientist Darryl Falzarano said," We see that the MERS coronavirus can very quickly adapt itself to a particular niche, and although we do not completely understand what is going on, this demonstrates how coronaviruses can jump from species to species so effortlessly."
Dr. Falzarano was part of the team of the bat study and created the vaccine for MERS-CoV, but he is working to make a COVID-19 vaccine for VIDO-InterVac's.
The SARS-CoV-2 has reached many parts of the globe and took 7% of positives to the grave, but MERS is only a small fraction of COVID-19. For MERS have camel's as their origin, but bats are thought to be the ancestral host of coronaviruses.
Findings support that coronaviruses will adapt species infected with them but how it works at a molecular level with bats is still a mystery. A 2017 USask-led study pointed out that coronaviruses can last four months of bat hibernation.
Bat cells will keep the immune response stable while having an antiviral reaction. When exposed to MERS, bat cell mutates a specific gene.
All together bat adaptations to coronaviruses are superb but when stressed, that kills the balance.
