INNOCENT American bats could become the latest victim of coronavirus as US federal wildlife experts are warning that we could become the ones that infect them.
It is widely believed that a Chinese bat was the source of the virus due to a conspiracy that has since been disproven.
It turns out that we are a bigger threat to bats than they are to us as we could give them the virus, or a bat-killing mutation of it.
U.S. federal wildlife workers have expressed concern that a new fear of bats is spreading due to the pandemic, but recommend that bat catchers stop to keep American bats safe.
Wildlife veterinarian with the National Parks Service, Dr. Michelle Verant, emailed her colleagues “concern that it could result in sustained transmission of the virus among wild bat populations in North America, which could have consequences for the health of bats as well as humans.”
The email, obtained by TMZ, goes on to instruct her colleagues who might be bat-catching for their studies to refrain and take greater precautions to protect their bats.
Dr Verant added that there needs to be a clear distinction between the horseshoe bat (the species falsely blamed for transmitting the virus in Wuhan) and North American bats.
She says that they are very different and that there is no evidence that the virus is carried or lives in the American species yet.
However, if American bats do catch coronavirus from humans then they could pass it back to livestock or humans, starting the vicious cycle we are trying to avoid.
The United States currently has over 429,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus and 14,695 deaths.
Most states have issued social distancing orders to slow the virus while a vaccine is in development.
There have been only the most extremely rare case of animals such as pets catching the virus, and all cases caught it from their owners with whom they were in permanent close proximity.
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