Thread by @bat1kgenomes

Dear #Bat1K community! Facing the current situation we have something to share with you. Please keep on reading this thread on #bats and #COVIDー19 🦇👇 1/n

We all find ourselves in the midst of a #global #pandemic. Our life is changing and we all have to adapt. Meanwhile, we get to hear the news, densely packed with the #coronavirus, the disease it causes, and also: #bats. 2/n

#Researchers around the globe are doing their best to quickly understand the virus and its outbreak. Nevertheless, the rush to report and communicate complex scientific results has sometimes led to confusion, mistrust and ultimately even fear and hatred towards #bats 3/n

It is one of our mission now to provide our #Bat1K members with articles and material that hopefully will help to put facts in a broad, scientifically sound perspective 4/n

We created a list that you can access on our website here: bat1k.ucd.ie/2020/04/06/bat…
and we will keep this list updated. Not a #Bat1K member yet? Simply sign up here: bat1k.ucd.ie/sign-up/ and you will get access to all our material including our latest newsletter! 5/n

To spread the word and to inform the whole #community we will keep posting in this thread, too #Bats #coronavirus #COVIDー19 6/n

Our #Bat1K @EmmaTeeling1 gave an interview with the @IrishTimes. This interview ends with a conclusion on how studying #bat #genomes can allow us to better understand how to find ways to tolerate the #coronavirus: irishtimes.com/news/science/b… 7/n

An objective piece from a virologist that should remind us what we truly know: “Updates on how bats relate to the outbreak of the COVID-19 Coronavirus” secemu.org/en/nota-actual… 8/n

@VirusWhisperer The Benhur Lee lab is tackling the question of the most likely origin of #SARSCoV2 and created a great series that we highly recommend: leelabvirus.host/covid19/origin… This article is also available in other languages, just visit their website 9/n

Thinking about #conspiracy theories? Read “An analysis of public #genome sequence data from #SARSCoV2 and related #viruses found no evidence that the virus was made in a laboratory or otherwise engineered.” sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/… 10/n

“The proximal origin of #SARSCoV2” is not specifically about bats, this is technical but read yourself: nature.com/articles/s4159… 11/n

A specialized article that was published in Current Biology “Probable Pangolin Origin of SARS-CoV-2 Associated with the COVID-19 Outbreak” sciencedirect.com/science/articl… 12/n

#Wuhan-based Huabin Zhao on the new threat #bats face in #China. He explores how important bats are for the #ecosystem and how vital a public #education about bats is to preserve them in times of #Corona. #Conservation science.sciencemag.org/content/367/64… 13/n

An easy read for everyone from @CNN about why #bats are not to blame for #COVID19 edition.cnn.com/2020/03/19/hea… 14/n

@EricBoodman “From ferrets to mice and marmosets, labs scramble to find right animals for #coronavirus studies” statnews.com/2020/03/05/cor… 15/n

“A systematic review of virological literature revealed that bats were described as a major concern for public health in half of all studies (51%), and that their key role in delivering ecosystem services was disregarded in almost all studies (96%)” onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.111… 16/n

@AlanLevinovitz “Ideas about natural and unnatural behavior causing disaster are simple, easy – and wrong” in “The #Coronavirus is not mother nature’s revenge” foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/05/vir… 17/n

wider context: a late 2018 #Nature publication on the diversity and potential of spillover of bat-borne coronaviruses, as evidenced by the recent spillover of swine acute diarrhoea syndrome coronavirus (SADS-CoV) to pigs nature.com/articles/s4157… 18/n

Again dealing with the wider context, a 2013 #Nature publication “Isolation and characterization of a bat #SARS-like #coronavirus that uses the ACE2 receptor” nature.com/articles/natur… 19/n

@NatGeo “New #coronavirus can spread between humans—but it started in a #wildlife market. With confirmed cases in multiple countries, health officials are looking to similar outbreaks from the past and seeing a common thread” nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/0… 20/n

@batcon keeps everyone up to date about the latest insights into #bats and #COVID19 batcon.org/resources/medi… 21/n

Please help to spread the message and retweet this thread! @_BCT_ @BatConservancy @batpapers @BatConIntl @Bats_Chiroptera
@OccasionalBat
@Bats_Rule
@BatConservIre
@batworld
@albertabats
@GiveBatsABreak
@The_BatNurse
@BatResearch
@EveryBat
22/n

while #viruses related —but not identical— to those causing emerging infectious diseases circulate among #bats, risks to people decrease dramatically by protecting #wildlife from trafficking and limiting encroachment into wild habitats. @Bats_Chiroptera @LabDavalos 23/n

Since #bats do not get badly sick from many such #viruses, #research on how bats achieve this could hold the key to help us fight future outbreaks @LabDavalos @Bats_Chiroptera 24/n

@RimbaResearch @BonnConvention maybe you are interested in this