h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

There's an article in the March 2006 issue of Scientific American (pages 11-12))which says that bats have long been known as vectors for rabies, but may also transmit some of the most deadly emerging viruses including SARS (a coronavirus), Ebola and Marburg . Blood testrs have suggested that another virus, Nipah, which has killed nearly 200 people in Southeast Asia has come from the largest bats - flying foxes.

Happily, researchers have said that bats should not be culled because of their critical ecological roles such as eating insects and other pests. It's also not practical with animals that can just fly away.

In a box ajacent to the article scientists from the Consortium for Conservation Medicinbe say that we must maintain a perspective. Paraphrase: 'Most emerging diseases actually come from domesticated animals and carnivores, whereas bats only account for 5% of such infections. Wild bats make up around one-fifth of all mammal species, which means that they are, in fact, under-represented as carriers of emerging diseases'.

Thats quite interesting, Al - is it their feeding habits that make them less prone to carrying disease? I suppose being largely insectivores minimises their exposure to other mammal diseases?

Quite relieved; when I saw the title I thought it was going to be a big page of corrections