MAY 21, 2020

Why Are Bats the Perfect Coronavirus Reservoir?

By Marie Rosenthal, MS

Apparently, it takes teamwork to adapt to coronaviruses. A University of Saskatchewan (USask) research team demonstrated that cells from an insect-eating brown bat can be persistently infected with Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus, due to adaptations made by both the bat and virus working together (Sci Rep 2020;10[1]:7257. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-64264-1).