Latest news with #bats
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Health
- Daily Mail
New virus discovered in China is 'one small step' away from triggering a pandemic, scientists warn
A dangerous new coronavirus discovered in China could spark the next pandemic, scientists warn. American researchers say the new HKU5-CoV-2 virus is just one 'small' mutation away from being able to infect and cause outbreaks in humans. The discovery is causing alarm because the pathogen is closely related to MERS, a highly lethal virus that kills up to a third of those it infects. Adding to the controversy is the fact HKU5 was first documented in bats by researchers from the Chinese lab where Covid is feared to have leaked from. For the latest study, a team from Washington State University studied how the new pathogen interacts with human cells in lab experiments. Professor Michael Letko, a virologist at Washington State who co-led the study, said: 'HKU5 viruses in particular really hadn't been looked at much, but our study shows how these viruses infect cells. 'What we also found is HKU5 viruses may be only a small step away from being able to spill over into humans.' The findings reveal that a small change in the virus's spike protein could enable it to bind to human ACE2 cells, which are found in people's throats, mouths and noses. Researchers collected the HKU5-CoV-2 strain from a small subset of hundreds of bats swabbed across southern and eastern regions of China. It is currently only spreading in bats - but experts fear unregulated wildlife trade in China raises risk of spillover events. In their experiments, the researchers used gene-editing tools to create 'pseudoviruses', lab-made virus particles that include the HKU5 spike protein but are harmless and don't replicate. These pseudoviruses were introduced to different types of cells, some carrying bat ACE2 and others carrying human ACE2. The virus glowed green when it successfully entered and replicated inside a cell. Bat cells lit up brightly, showing HKU5 can easily infect them. Human cells, however, showed little response unless the virus carried specific mutations that improved its ability to latch onto ACE2. The results raise concern that if HKU5 jumps to an intermediate animal, such as mink or civets, it could acquire mutatations before reaching humans. The FBI and CIA believe COVID-19 most likely originated from a lab leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology, which was working with dangerous coronaviruses in the years leading up to the pandemic. Another theory points to a wet market, where dozens of animals were kept in squalid conditions, possibly serving as an intermediate host before the virus jumped to humans. The new study published in the Nature Communications, focused on a lesser-known group of coronaviruses known as merbecoviruses, which includes HKU5 and MERS-CoV, the virus responsible for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome first identified in Saudi Arabia in 2012. MERS spreads from camels to humans and has a fatality rate of about 34 percent. To visualize the virus's structure, scientists used cryo-electron microscopy, a high-resolution imaging method that allowed them to examine the spike protein in detail. They found that key parts of the spike remained in a 'closed' position, which makes infection more difficult, but not impossible. 'These viruses are so closely related to MERS, so we have to be concerned if they ever infect humans,' Letko said. 'While there's no evidence they've crossed into people yet, the potential is there and that makes them worth watching.' Earlier this year, scientists in Wuhan reported that one strain of HKU5, Lineage 2, could already bind to human ACE2 receptors. That means it might infect human cells without needing to evolve further. Now, US researchers have broadened the investigation, studying the entire merbecovirus family, not just one strain, but dozens, including MERS-CoV and multiple HKU5 variants, to better understand their potential to infect human cells. Lineage 2 appears more immediately dangerous, already equipped to enter human cells. But this new study reveals that several other type of HKU5 viruses may only be a few mutations away from doing the same.
BBC News
7 days ago
- Business
- BBC News
Croft Castle: National Trust plans to demolish farm buildings
The National Trust has put forward plans to demolish four farm buildings on a castle estate in the structures are said to be "redundant" at Croft Castle and apparently built since charity said the plan was prompted by damage to a neighbouring threshing barn, which holds "significant heritage value for the Croft estate", from a fallen tree last plans stated: "The planned removal of the four modern agricultural buildings surrounding the threshing barn will enable its careful restoration and help preserve its historical integrity." Bat checks planned The buildings are listed as cattle sheds; a Dutch barn (a timber structure used to store hay); an implement shed (a building used to store equipment); and a silage clamp, which is a structure used to store crops and make are all part of the Home Farm near Leominster, which is north of the Grade I-listed castle and neighbouring church, and they are not normally accessible to visitors, the application charity said they should not be seen as part of the "curtilage", or the area around the neighbouring heritage-listed buildings, and it said listed building consent would not be required for added removing the structures "will better reveal the traditional buildings in the vicinity" and enhance the would be checked for the presence of protected bats and birds prior to demolition, documents Council is expected to decide on the application by 8 June. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Hereford & Worcester on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
New York Times
28-05-2025
- Health
- New York Times
A Fungus Devastated North American Bats. A New Species Could Deliver a Killer Blow.
In the winter of 2006, biologists in New York State got a gruesome surprise. As they surveyed colonies of hibernating bats, they discovered heaps of dead animals on the floors of caves and abandoned mines. The culprit was a fungus new to science. It caused white-nose disease, named for the fuzzy pale tendrils that sprouted from the nostrils of its victims. (The disease was originally known as white-nose syndrome, but was renamed in recent years.) The fungus, Pseudogymnoascus destructans, or P. destructans, has spread from New York to 40 states and nine Canadian provinces. 'This is the most dramatic wildlife mortality event that's ever been documented from a pathogen,' said DeeAnn Reeder, a disease ecologist at Bucknell University. 'Millions and millions and millions of animals have died.' In recent years, bat experts have gained some guarded optimism. They have found ways to protect bats from white-nose disease and to help infected animals survive. But a new study published on Wednesday raised the possibility that North American bats could get slammed by a second wave of white-nose disease. An extensive genetic survey has found that Pseudogymnoascus destructans is actually two species native to Europe and Asia. Only one has reached North America. If the second one is introduced to the continent, it could start another devastating epidemic. 'It's like a reboot,' said Dr. Reeder, who was not involved in the study. 'I think it's terrifying, honestly.' The leader of the new study, Sébastien Puechmaille of the University of Montpellier, was still a graduate student studying bat conservation 17 years ago when his American colleagues at scientific conferences told him about a new plague. 'We'd be talking, and then they said, 'Yeah, we have these bats that are dying with something growing on them, possibly a fungus,'' Dr. Puechmaille recalled. Dr. Puechmaille and his European colleagues knew that European bats sometimes grew fuzzy white patches on their noses, too. But their infections weren't lethal, so researchers paid little attention to them. 'And then, very quickly, we found out that it was similar to what was found in North America,' Dr. Puechmaille said. That discovery led Dr. Puechmaille to dedicate his career to understanding the new fungus. He helped chart its range across Europe and as far east as South Korea. Yet nowhere in Europe or Asia did P. destructans cause mass die-offs like it did in North America. Dr. Puechmaille and his colleagues worked out the reason for this sharp contrast. The fungus originally evolved in Europe and Asia, where it developed a peaceful coexistence with bats over millions of years. The fungus only grows at the cool temperatures in a bat's hibernating body. It causes no lasting harm to the animals, which warm up in the spring and shed the fungus. When the bats leave their caves, they leave behind fungal spores that can infect new hosts the next winter. 'When the bat comes back in autumn, if it touches the wall with its wings or ears or anything else, then some spores get onto it, and the cycle starts again,' Dr. Puechmaille said. When P. destructans suddenly appeared in North America in the early 2000s, the bats there were ill-equipped to handle the new disease. As their immune systems struggled against the fungus, they woke up often during the winter and burned up their fat reserves. By the spring, many infected bats had starved to death. To reconstruct the deep history of P. destructans, Dr. Puechmaille enlisted a network of hundreds of volunteers to amass a collection of fungal samples. He and his colleagues then sequenced the DNA of more than 5,400 samples for clues into how the fungus evolved, and how it managed to reach North America. All the samples of P. destructans that scientists have studied in North America are nearly identical clones. They all must have descended from a single spore introduced to the continent, presumably not long before the discovery of the disease in 2006 in New York. Until now, scientists had little idea where exactly the North American fungus came from across the range of P. destructans, which stretches more than 5,000 miles. 'We had nothing to pin it down,' Dr. Puechmaille said. In their new study, Dr. Puechmaille and his colleagues discovered that the North American fungi closely match samples collected from bats hibernating in caves in the Podillia region of Ukraine. The analysis zeroed in on an 18-square-mile area as the most likely origin of the spore that started the North American epidemic. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, American spelunkers made contact with their Ukrainian counterparts and started exploring Podillia's maze of caves. Dr. Puechmaille speculated that spore-riddled mud could have stuck to a caver's gear and survived a trip back to the United States. That caver may have then unwittingly transported the spore to a New York cave on a boot or a rope, setting off a new epidemic. 'We do not want to blame people,' Dr. Puechmaille said. 'The only thing we wanted to do was to find evidence that there was definitely a movement between these regions.' The study not only clarifies the origin of the white-nose epidemic in North America but also raises serious concerns about a future outbreak. Dr. Puechmaille discovered that the fungal samples belonged to two genetically distinct groups. That means P. destructans is not one species, as originally thought, but two, called Pd-1 and Pd-2 for the time being. The two species split from a common ancestor roughly a million years ago. The range of Pd-1 extends throughout Europe as far east as the Ural Mountains in Russia. Pd-2 is less common in Europe, but also extends into Asia. The two species of fungi seem to specialize on certain species of bats, although Dr. Puechmaille's team has discovered some individual bats in Europe infected with both Pd-1 and Pd-2. The North American epidemic was caused solely by Pd-1. If Pd-2 reaches North America, Dr. Puechmaille warns, it could cause trouble as well. Bat species hit hard by Pd-1 might get pushed to extinction, and species that managed to resist Pd-1 could succumb to Pd-2. 'It's really important for conservation that we should set up some policies to prevent this second fungal pathogen from being transported to other continents, including North America,' Dr. Puechmaille said. People should not move cave equipment between countries, he said, and they should disinfect it between expeditions. 'A single spore is enough,' he warned.
The Guardian
24-05-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
Young country diary: The night I clicked with the bats
We stepped through the hedge and into the field where we found the others: eight adults and the organiser, a woman named Heather. She handed out detectors which we fed around our necks, and showed us how to use them. You scanned by moving the dial with your thumb, and if you were in the right frequency, and pointing in the right direction, you'd hear the bats. 'Echolocation' she called it. The sun had just gone down and the paths were like dark tunnels, but our torches lit the way. Then we heard the clicking. 'There!' said Heather, pointing, '45 kHz.' Everyone turned their dials and held up their scanners, and a wall of clicks crashed into us. I ran my finger down the card I'd been given. Common pipistrelle. Wow, there it was. A bat, lots of bats – and you could see them too, black spots flitting through the darkening sky. 'Each pipistrelle can eat a thousand tiny insects in just one night,' Heather said. We pushed on, holding our breaths. As we neared the top of the hill, my sister's detector started clicking – 48 kHz. I moved my dial and we searched the sky. Click-click-click, slightly faster this time. I scanned the card again: brown long-eared, a medium-sized bat, with ears so sensitive they can hear ladybirds walking on leaves. I'm not sure how many bats we discovered that night; at least three (there are 17 resident in the UK). Quite a few types of bats echolocate at 45 kHz, Heather said, like whiskered and Brandt's bats, so I can't be certain. What I am certain of is that I'll be back in the autumn, but next time I'll bring my own bat 11 Read today's other YCD piece, by Olivier, 14: 'Peregrine v pigeon is no contest' Young Country Diary is published every fourth Saturday of the month. The submission form is now closed, but keep the link handy, it will reopen on Monday 2 June for summer articles
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Science
- The Guardian
This tiny Australian bat is the size of a matchbox. But it flies up to 150km a night in search of food
A tiny, critically endangered bat – roughly the size of a matchbox – can fly about 150km in a single night, new research has found. Southern bent-wing bats roost in caves in south-west Victoria and south-east South Australia. They fly out at night in search of food, eating about half their body weight in insects. Little is known about these foraging flights, so Victoria's Arthur Rylah Institute tracked bats from the Portland maternity cave 350km west of Melbourne, to see where they went. In summer-autumn, some bats flew from Portland to the Naracoorte maternity caves in South Australia or to Victoria's Warrnambool maternity caves – about 156km and 97km away, respectively – in a single night. The bats mostly returned on subsequent nights via a second direct, single-night flight. Those vast distances were 'pretty amazing for a bat that's less than the size of a mouse,' said wildlife ecology scientist Amanda Bush from the Arthur Rylah Institute. To put this in perspective, the average person commutes 16km to work in Australia, usually with the help of a vehicle. To collect the data, researchers fitted miniature GPS trackers on to 39 adult bats in September 2023 and another 69 trackers in February 2024. They managed to retrieve 47 trackers (and their onboard data) by re-trapping bats and searching cave floors for transmitters that had fallen off. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email 'Once the VHF signal on the trackers died, they were sometimes difficult to find among piles of bat guano, but we'd spot them by seeing their small aerials,' Bush said. The bats flew further from their roosts during summer-autumn, with an average nightly commute of 36km. They often headed inland, moving through forests and open farmland. Bats visited a wide range of habitats, including eucalypt and pine forests, roadsides, windbreaks, open farm land, coastal scrub and urban areas. The distances involved were 'incredible', said University of Melbourne bat expert, associate prof Lisa Godinho, who was not involved in the research. 'We know that their heart beats at about 1,000 beats-a-minute when they're flying,' she said. Southern bent-wing bats are 'quite adorable', Godinho said, measuring about 5cm long, with distinctive puffy brown fur and roundish heads. Sign up to Clear Air Australia Adam Morton brings you incisive analysis about the politics and impact of the climate crisis after newsletter promotion The species is one of only a few that rely on caves to roost in Australia, she said. But while caves are critical to their survival, it is also important to understand what other parts of the landscape they rely on. Bat flights in spring were shorter, and focused on coastal areas. The largest distance recorded in spring was 78km from their roost, while the average was 12km. Shorter flights likely related to pregnant females, Godinho said. 'It's energetically so expensive to go a long way. If there's enough resources close to the maternity roost, then you would stay in that area.' In summer-autumn, the bats would bulk up before winter, when fewer insects were available, and the mammals relied on 'torpor' – dropping their body temperature and metabolic rate – to conserve energy. 'Realising that they travel this far through the landscape in order to find resources, raises the question – is that normal? Or has the fragmentation and degradation of the landscape meant that they are now having to travel that far in order to find what they need?' Godinho said. Southern bent-wing bats once numbered in the hundreds of thousands, but today there are fewer than 45,000. Protecting maternity sites and key foraging habitat has been identified as a priority action for the critically endangered species. Deakin University research fellow Dr Amanda Lo Cascio agreed the distances travelled were a 'long way for a little bat'. Lo Cascio said southern bent-wing bats were good flyers and flew quite fast, using sound – or echolocation – to navigate, similar to whales and dolphins. Knowing where and how far they travelled at night was especially important for assessing proposed developments in their flight paths and habitats, and considering the threats they might be exposed to, she said.
