VIDO researchers unlocking the secrets of bat genes.<\/p>\n
SASKATOON \u2014 From the tiny bumblebee bat to the giant flying fox, there are more than 1,490 species of bats found across the globe. These diverse creatures can be spotted in the skies of every continent (except Antarctica), playing a crucial role in our ecosystems and the health of our planet.<\/p>\n
But bats also hold deeper secrets that can help us better understand and improve our own health. By unlocking the secrets of bat genes, Dr. Arinjay Banerjee\u2019s (PhD) lab at the University of Saskatchewan\u2019s (USask) Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization (VIDO) is learning how to tackle emerging viruses and help safeguard against disease outbreaks.<\/p>\n
\u201cZoonotic viruses that jump from wildlife into other mammals pose health risks for both humans and livestock species. Learning how reservoir hosts like bats maintain a benign relationship with their viruses not only enables us to better understand the world around us but also empowers us to learn from nature to develop powerful next generation therapies,\u201d said Banerjee.<\/p>\n
Banerjee and his trainees have recently published three new papers in academic journals that act as a pandemic preparedness tool kit \u2014 a body of foundational data and research that can help shape policy, better understand the immune system of mammals, and even develop prospective therapeutics that could treat diseases<\/p>\n
.<\/p>\n
Taking a One Health approach<\/p>\n
The Nipah virus is a bat-borne virus that caused outbreaks of disease across Southeast and South Asia for over two decades, with seasonal outbreaks hitting Bangladesh and India every year. With high mortality rates and no licensed treatment or vaccine, Nipah is a large public health concern.<\/p>\n
In a recent paper published in Nature Microbiology<\/a>, Banerjee, USask post-doctoral fellow Dr. Kaushal Baid (PhD), and international colleagues proposed a One Health approach to understanding and responding to the virus.<\/p>\n \u201cPreventing the transmission of Nipah virus is pretty complex because there are several avenues that people can come in contact with it,\u201d said Banerjee. \u201cBats can transmit it to other animals like pigs, which can then infect humans working with those pigs. People can also become sick from drinking contaminated date palm sap, and we have seen people becoming sick after being in contact with symptomatic individuals in hospital settings.\u201d<\/p>\n Nipah is seen as a model pathogen that can help shape pandemic preparedness efforts. The lessons learned from the Nipah virus outbreaks can be applied to other emerging diseases, particularly the need for increased surveillance that can sound off early warning signals to the global community.<\/p>\n \u201cIn our paper we identified that an integrated One Health surveillance strategy is necessary to track the spread of Nipah virus among humans and animals,\u201d said Baid. \u201cThis includes the regular screening of high-risk populations and case reporting for those who become sick, testing bats, pigs and other animals in outbreak areas for viral antibodies and the use of this data to develop predictive models and identify future hotspots.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Understanding viral tolerance in bats<\/p>\n Understanding how zoonotic viruses survive inside their hosts like bats is a crucial part of any pandemic preparedness puzzle, but it\u2019s a challenging one to solve. In Banerjee\u2019s lab, Baid is also looking to better understand how coronaviruses like SARS-CoV-2 interact with their bat hosts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that in humans the pro-inflammatory processes go haywire in severe COVID-19 cases,\u201d said Baid. \u201cWe\u2019ve been able to demonstrate that some bats mount an early antiviral response to SARS-CoV-2 that is more measured, which may explain their ability to tolerate but not eliminate the infection.\u201d<\/p>\n