A
study of cultured bat cells shows that their strong immune responses,
constantly primed to respond to viruses, can drive viruses to greater
virulence. Modelling bat immune systems on a computer, the researchers showed
that when bat cells quickly release interferon upon infection, other cells
quickly wall themselves off. This drives viruses to faster reproduction. The
increased virulence and infectivity wreak havoc when these viruses infect
animals with tamer immune systems, like humans.
A new University
of California, Berkeley, study finds that bats' fierce immune response
to viruses could drive viruses to replicate faster, so that when they jump to
mammals with average immune systems, such as humans, the viruses wreak deadly
havoc.
This
makes bats a unique reservoir of rapidly reproducing and highly transmissible
viruses. While the bats can tolerate viruses like these, when these bat viruses
then move into animals that lack a fast-response immune system, the viruses
quickly overwhelm their new hosts, leading to high fatality rates.
See:
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)
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