Bats have a pretty bad reputation, which is not surprising considering the number of pathogens they carry that can infect humans. This doesn't mean it's open season on bats… March 14, 2020 Why Bat Viruses Are So Dangerous . (2020, February 10). A new study finds that bats, compared to other mammals, carry more viruses that can transmit and spread among humans. Livia O ... and they all have the potential to carry viruses. Article-based Comprehension, Q&A . Kevin Olival , vice president of research at EcoHealth Alliance, U.S.-based nonprofit, says scientists aren't completely sure why, but it may have to do with the families of viruses that some bats tend to carry. Why bats don’t get sick from the viruses they carry, but humans can May 20, 2020 3.04pm EDT. Bats really do harbor more dangerous viruses than other species. Scientists in a 2017 paper did find that bats harbored more dangerous viruses than other species. Coronavirus outbreak raises question: Why are bat viruses so deadly? Bats can carry viruses that are deadly to other mammals without themselves showing serious symptoms. This helps viruses spread not just between individuals, but … Their tolerance of viruses, which surpasses that of other mammals, is … They found that rodents host 179 viruses, 68 of which are zoonotic; bats, on the other hand, harbor 61 zoonotic viruses, with 137 viruses in total. They also carry the rabies virus, but in that case the bats are affected by the disease. Compared to other mammals, they carry more viruses that can spread among humans. However, bats do appear to carry more human-killing diseases than pretty much any other animal. By Kai Kupferschmidt Jun. First, bats carry a great variety of viruses — and the viruses they carry seem more likely to spread to people. In fact, bats are natural reservoirs for viruses that have some of the highest fatality rates of any viruses that people acquire from wild animals – … 21, ... 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