According to Tian et al. (2022), what role do bats serve in the transmission of emerging viruses?

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Role of Bats in Emerging Virus Transmission

Bats primarily serve as natural reservoir hosts in which viruses persist and evolve, enabling spillover to other animals and humans, often via intermediary amplifying hosts. 1

  • Best single, recent, high-quality evidence (iScience 2022): bats harbor and tolerate multiple high-consequence viruses (henipaviruses, filoviruses, coronaviruses) without disease, acting as reservoirs from which spillover occurs to humans and livestock; evolution and maintenance occur in bats with transmission sometimes involving intermediates (e.g., pigs, horses, civets) 1.

  • Supporting, consistent research (choose most relevant when needed):

    • Reviews highlight bats as reservoirs with spillover via intermediates, not mere vectors; coevolution and tolerance facilitate viral diversification and emergence 2, 3.
    • Contemporary immunology reviews (2024) reinforce reservoir/tolerance biology underlying pandemic risk 4, 5.

Answer choice: “Bats act as primary hosts for the viruses, where the viruses evolve and mutate.”

References

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