“Bat guano covered in fungus littered the cave,” Shi told Scientific American in a report published last month. Three years ago, Shi was called in to investigate a virus outbreak in a mine shaft where six miners suffered from pneumonia-like diseases that killed two of them.įILE - A bat guano collector carries a bag as he gets out of a bat cave at Wat Khao Chong Phran in Ratchaburi, Thailand, March 13, 2020. "The risk from bats is greatly related to how much contact people have with bats," said Siegel. Instead, humans mostly get infected from bats merely by spending time with them, such as when workers collect bat guano from a cave, or when miners or spelunkers spend hours breathing in the same confined space as a bat colony. "Most bats do not bite, particularly the kinds of bats associated with coronavirus outbreaks," Siegel said. Scientists have suggested that because the virus is found in bats' blood and saliva, transmission could have occurred from a bite. The exact mechanism by which the coronavirus jumped from a bat to a human is the subject of intense global research. Robert Siegel, a professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University, told VOA. "Guano is dangerous because it harbors virus," Dr. These viruses are also in the same family as the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to the research. Recently, six entirely new coronaviruses have been discovered in samples of bat manure from 464 bats by a team led by Smithsonian scientist Marc Valitutto. One of those fecal samples contained a viral genome that is 96% identical to the coronavirus that is currently spreading across the globe. In 2005, Wuhan-based virologist Shi Zhengli, now known as China's "Bat Woman," identified dozens of deadly SARS-like coronaviruses that were found in samples of bat droppings that Shi and her team collected in caves.įILE - A Buddhist monk sweeps up bat guano in a cave near Wat Khao Chong Phran Temple in Ratchaburi province, Thailand, September 14, 2009. Some healers recommend putting bat droppings directly into the eyes. It is used for treating eye disorders, blood stasis and embolism.īecause bats catch flying insects at night, bat guano was traditionally seen as promoting night vision. Known as Ye Ming Sha, or Night Ling Sand, bat guano is one of the most popular ingredients in traditional Chinese medicine. online shopping site, where the Grocery & Gourmet Food category includes a listing for 1 gram priced at $2.95 from a traditional Chinese medicine vendor. It can be found on Amazon, the biggest U.S. Despite the pandemic, the global trade in bat products continues, including in their highly prized feces, called guano.īat guano is commonly used throughout the world as a fertilizer, but it is also used as medicine. Scientists suspect COVID-19 originally came from a bat, which may have harbored a wide range of coronaviruses.
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