Scientists Bat Down Chiropteran Covid Theory

By Hamodia Staff

YERUSHALAYIM — Bats have been wrongly blamed for being the source of the COVID-19 pandemic, says a team of researchers at Tel Aviv University.

They maintain that bats (which are of the order chiroptera) have a highly effective immune system that enables them to defend themselves relatively easily against viruses considered lethal for other mammals.

Dr. Maya Weinberg, who led the study of dozens of leading articles and studies in the field, explained: “In general, bats are mistakenly conceived of as reservoirs of many contagious diseases. In order to examine the overall situation, we conducted a meta-analysis of the literature and checked the finding for over 100 viruses for which bats are considered potential reservoirs; such as Ebola, SARS, and COVID. We found that in a considerable number of cases (48%) this claim was based on the incidence of antibodies or PCR tests, rather than actual isolation of identical viruses. Moreover, many of the reported findings are not convincing.

“The mere isolation of a virus is not enough to see an animal as a reservoir, since a minimum number of index cases is required in which the virus is isolated in order to be considered a reservoir animal, as well as the existence of an established path of transmission. Furthermore, the very detection of a particular virus in bats does not necessarily ensure further infection, and other biological, ecological and anthropogenic conditions must exist in order for such an event to occur.”

Weinberg concluded that their study “raises serious doubts regarding the possibility of bats being the origin of the COVID-19 outbreak. On the contrary, she argues that the findings should point the way to “obtaining new and effective means of coping in humanity’s struggle against contagious disease, aging and cancer.”

In the present study, Dr. Weinberg sought to disprove the erroneous theory about the harmfulness of bats and show that they play an important role in exterminating insects, replanting of deforested areas, and pollination of a number of crops.