Vaccinating bats could be good for people. But how do you vaccinate a bat?

"Bats carry a lot of very deadly pathogens like Ebola virus, Nipah, Hendra, coronavirus, and also rabies virus. People are finding more and more bat-borne viruses. When such viruses are transmitted to humans, the results are often fatal so there's a lot of interest in trying to prevent spillover in the first place."

"When people kill the bats, basically they have more contact with the bat. There are more chance[s] to get infected. And wiping out bats can have other ramifications. These flying mammals play critical roles in the environment by pollinating plants and controlling insect pests."

"We not only protect the human but also protect the animals. The advantage is if we immunize the population, the transmission of the virus will be decreased or eventually eliminated."

Bats carry numerous deadly pathogens including Ebola, Nipah, Hendra, coronavirus, and rabies that can spillover to humans with often fatal results. Traditional approaches to prevent spillover have involved culling bats, but this increases human contact with infected animals and risks infection. Additionally, bat culling harms ecosystems since bats play critical roles in pollination and pest control while facing threats from habitat loss and disease. Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences propose vaccinating bats directly against dangerous viruses as a solution. This approach protects both human and animal populations while reducing viral transmission. The team employed innovative techniques including vaccine-carrying mosquitoes to immunize bat populations, representing an early-stage but promising development in disease prevention.

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