Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) tagged posts

Bat ‘Super Immunity’ may explain how Bats Carry Coronaviruses, study finds

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USask student Arinjay Banerjee (right) and professor Vikram Misra (left) posing with a bat finger puppet. (Photo: David Stobbe)

Bat-virus adaptation may explain species spillover, researchers say. A University of Saskatchewan (USask) research team has uncovered how bats can carry the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronavirus without getting sick — research that could shed light on how coronaviruses make the jump to humans and other animals.

Coronaviruses such as MERS, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), and more recently the COVID19-causing SARS-CoV-2 virus, are thought to have originated in bats. While these viruses can cause serious and often fatal disease in people, for reasons not previously well understood, bats seem unharmed.

“The bats don’t get rid of the v...

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