1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:08,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Prognosis. I'm Laura Carlson. It's day thirty one 2 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: since coronavirus was declared a global pandemic. Today we're bringing 3 00:00:13,520 --> 00:00:17,040 Speaker 1: you a special episode of the podcast. It's a close 4 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,520 Speaker 1: look at how the novel coronavirus lived before it entered 5 00:00:20,640 --> 00:00:27,840 Speaker 1: humans and who it lived in bats. They are almost 6 00:00:27,880 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 1: certainly the source of this pandemic, but they may also 7 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:36,080 Speaker 1: hold the clues to stopping the next one. Scientists have 8 00:00:36,200 --> 00:00:41,280 Speaker 1: learned that the new coronavirus shares of its genetic makeup 9 00:00:41,560 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: with the virus previously detected in a kind of bat 10 00:00:45,240 --> 00:00:48,120 Speaker 1: known as the horseshoe bat from the Yu Non province 11 00:00:48,200 --> 00:00:54,240 Speaker 1: in China. It turns out these bats are viralogical treasure troves, 12 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,400 Speaker 1: so many of the infectious agents we worry most about 13 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: coexist invert dual harmony with these nocturnal creatures. Bloomberg Senior 14 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:08,880 Speaker 1: editor Jason Gale takes us back to the mid nineteen nineties. 15 00:01:09,520 --> 00:01:12,960 Speaker 1: We're a surprise finding by scientists in Australia led to 16 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,440 Speaker 1: the emergence of the Batpack, a group of researchers who 17 00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:21,720 Speaker 1: not only discovered a whole genus of dangerous viruses, but 18 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: found what could be the precursor of the novel coronavirus. 19 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: They're also laying the groundwork for potential treatments. Here's Jason. 20 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:45,160 Speaker 1: The story of bats and viruses can be traced to 21 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: an Australian veterinarian, Dr Hume Field. The son of a policeman, 22 00:01:49,720 --> 00:01:52,559 Speaker 1: Hume grew up in various parts of the northeastern state 23 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: of Queensland, where he developed a fascination for Australia's native fauna. 24 00:01:58,080 --> 00:02:02,320 Speaker 1: I've always had an interest in animals, and I guess 25 00:02:02,400 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: growing up as a kid, I can remember my parents 26 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:07,920 Speaker 1: saying our human lives animals. He's going to be a 27 00:02:08,000 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: vet And this was really a bit of a throwaway 28 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,120 Speaker 1: line because nobody in our family had ever been to university, 29 00:02:15,400 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: led alone to a five year vetinry course. But nonetheless 30 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,000 Speaker 1: the sort of seed took hold, I guess, at least 31 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: with me. When I caught up with him, he was 32 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 1: in his home office in a leafy coastal area southeast 33 00:02:27,360 --> 00:02:31,040 Speaker 1: of Brisbane. You could hear chattering wildlife and vocal pets, 34 00:02:31,480 --> 00:02:35,400 Speaker 1: as well as drought breaking rain. Hu graduated from the 35 00:02:35,480 --> 00:02:39,400 Speaker 1: University of Queensland in six He worked for a couple 36 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: of years in a small animal practice, but his interest 37 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:45,440 Speaker 1: in wildlife led him to pursue further study in the evenings, 38 00:02:45,880 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 1: first in environmental science than a doctorate in the mid 39 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,040 Speaker 1: It allowed him to combine his love of native animals 40 00:02:53,080 --> 00:02:57,040 Speaker 1: with emerging diseases at a time when the state's agricultural authorities, 41 00:02:57,240 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: we're trying to figure out the source of a deadly 42 00:02:59,639 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: horsed disease. It was a virus that infected twenty race 43 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: horses stable in the Brisbane suburb of hend. It's thought 44 00:03:07,800 --> 00:03:10,840 Speaker 1: to have started when a mare called Drama Series was 45 00:03:10,919 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: brought to the stables after she had been grazing in 46 00:03:13,240 --> 00:03:15,520 Speaker 1: a field at Cannon Hill, on the other side of 47 00:03:15,520 --> 00:03:19,200 Speaker 1: the Brisbane River. Drama Series died two days later, and 48 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:22,840 Speaker 1: subsequently all of the other horses fell ill. Thirteen of 49 00:03:22,880 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: them died. What was especially alarming about this disease was 50 00:03:27,520 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: that it crossed the species barrier. A trainer and another 51 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:33,240 Speaker 1: person tending to the horses became ill with a flu 52 00:03:33,360 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: like illness within days of Drama Series death. The stable 53 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: hand recovered, but the trainer died of respiratory and kidney failure. 54 00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:45,680 Speaker 1: The virus was eventually isolated and named Hendra virus after 55 00:03:45,720 --> 00:03:48,680 Speaker 1: the suburb where it was found. Hume was asked to 56 00:03:48,720 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: help determine how drama series might have caught the virus. 57 00:03:52,040 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: He went searching the paddock where she had been grazing 58 00:03:54,640 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: and presumably had become infected. He caught rodents, possums, feral 59 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:02,080 Speaker 1: cats and reptiles and tested them for hendravirus. When the 60 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: results came back negative, he went searching for clues. By 61 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:09,680 Speaker 1: the people rescuing vulnerable wildlife here in Australia, they're sometimes 62 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:14,040 Speaker 1: referred to as wildlife carries. So when we subsequently broadened 63 00:04:14,080 --> 00:04:19,680 Speaker 1: our search and started using wildlife cares as I as 64 00:04:19,720 --> 00:04:22,479 Speaker 1: a conduit if you like, to be able to collect 65 00:04:22,520 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: samples from sick and injured animals that were in their care. 66 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:30,240 Speaker 1: And it was in that process, so again quite serendipulous 67 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:33,120 Speaker 1: that we actually sample. We were sampling kangaroos, we were 68 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: sampling parsons, we were sampling the usual things, ducks, the 69 00:04:36,320 --> 00:04:39,240 Speaker 1: whole range of things that would come into wildlife cares. 70 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,520 Speaker 1: And there were flying foxes. When you sample some flying foxes. 71 00:04:43,560 --> 00:04:46,800 Speaker 1: This was over a period of months and lo and behold, 72 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:50,719 Speaker 1: we found antibodies to handra virus and some flying foxes. 73 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,360 Speaker 1: So we looked at some more flying foxes, and then 74 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: we looked at some flying foxes in captive populace and 75 00:04:57,720 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: the zoos et cetera. And to how we identified flying 76 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:05,800 Speaker 1: foxes as being at that stage are possible rest of 77 00:05:05,839 --> 00:05:08,400 Speaker 1: while then we went on to do further studies eventually 78 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,320 Speaker 1: detected an isolated virus etcetera, etcetera. And so now flying 79 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:15,520 Speaker 1: foxes or at least a couple of species of flying 80 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:20,040 Speaker 1: foxes in Australia are recognized as the primary reservoir hosts 81 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:26,039 Speaker 1: of hendrovirus. Flying foxes aren't actually foxes. There are large 82 00:05:26,120 --> 00:05:29,479 Speaker 1: fruit eating bat with a kind of fox like face 83 00:05:29,560 --> 00:05:33,039 Speaker 1: and expression. They weigh up to a couple of pounds 84 00:05:33,279 --> 00:05:37,080 Speaker 1: and their wings can span more than three ft. The 85 00:05:37,160 --> 00:05:40,599 Speaker 1: finding of hendrovirus in bats was important not just because 86 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:44,040 Speaker 1: it helped identify the pathway by which horses and people 87 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,200 Speaker 1: were being infected. It also made scientists alert to other 88 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:52,359 Speaker 1: viruses bats could potentially carry. About a year after humid 89 00:05:52,480 --> 00:05:56,240 Speaker 1: the discovery of hendravirus and flying foxes, another opportunity to 90 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:59,839 Speaker 1: explore the ecology of viruses and bats presented itself, this 91 00:06:00,080 --> 00:06:04,239 Speaker 1: time in Malaysia, where pigs and pig farmers were getting sick. 92 00:06:04,920 --> 00:06:08,839 Speaker 1: By mid more than two hundred and sixty five people 93 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:12,640 Speaker 1: had fallen ill with encephalitis or inflammation of the brain. 94 00:06:13,320 --> 00:06:18,560 Speaker 1: Of those cases were fatal. There were also eleven cases 95 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,719 Speaker 1: of either encephalitis or respiratory illness, including one death. In 96 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: neighboring Singapore, scientists found the viral source. It was named 97 00:06:27,120 --> 00:06:29,360 Speaker 1: neiper virus, which had turned out was from the same 98 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,920 Speaker 1: family as hendra virus. Hume was asked to help investigate 99 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: the source and wanted someone who was who might be 100 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:39,760 Speaker 1: able to guide and work with him to find out 101 00:06:39,760 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: the natural reservoive but so none of we knew about 102 00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: hender and a bat stand immediately focused not exclusively, but 103 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,480 Speaker 1: was certainly focused on flying foxes in Malasia, and it 104 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:54,719 Speaker 1: wasn't too long before we found the evidence of of 105 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: nepavirus in species of flying fox there, just as hendra 106 00:06:59,080 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: virus did. The discovery of NIPA underscored their risks that 107 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:06,839 Speaker 1: emerge at the interface of wildlife, farm, animals and humans. 108 00:07:07,520 --> 00:07:10,800 Speaker 1: Professor Trevor Drew is the director of the Australian Animal 109 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,840 Speaker 1: Health Laboratory at Geelong, just outside of Melbourne. It's carried 110 00:07:14,880 --> 00:07:18,920 Speaker 1: out key research on both Hendra and Niper viruses. According 111 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:22,960 Speaker 1: to Trevor, the emergence of Hendra and then Niper identified 112 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:26,440 Speaker 1: the ways in which batborn viruses can spill over it 113 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,679 Speaker 1: and infect other species. And Nipper virus was a disease 114 00:07:30,760 --> 00:07:36,080 Speaker 1: also of fruit bats in Malaysia initially, and that virus 115 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:40,880 Speaker 1: got into pigs because the they were starting to put 116 00:07:40,920 --> 00:07:44,720 Speaker 1: pig farms into more forested areas, and the feces from 117 00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:48,200 Speaker 1: the bats got into the pig styes and was thought 118 00:07:48,240 --> 00:07:50,880 Speaker 1: to have infected the pigs that way, and it killed 119 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:55,679 Speaker 1: hundreds of pigs, if not thousands of pigs. Nipper isn't 120 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:59,640 Speaker 1: just confined to Malaysia over the past decade. It's caused 121 00:07:59,640 --> 00:08:03,600 Speaker 1: outbreaks in India and Bangladesh that have killed dozens of people. 122 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: We also now as also know from incidents in Bangladesh 123 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:11,280 Speaker 1: of outbreaks of NIPA virus that you don't need the 124 00:08:11,320 --> 00:08:15,160 Speaker 1: pick that the that the bat can actually also infect 125 00:08:15,240 --> 00:08:19,960 Speaker 1: humans directly via drinking out of vessels of palm sap 126 00:08:20,040 --> 00:08:23,400 Speaker 1: that are put onto the tree to to harvest the 127 00:08:23,400 --> 00:08:27,040 Speaker 1: palm sap, and people drink this palm sap, but so 128 00:08:27,160 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: does the bat, and they will come down and the 129 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,680 Speaker 1: saliva from the bat can contaminate the palm sap and 130 00:08:32,760 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: infect the human directly. So we know that that that 131 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: is one incident, but certainly in Malaysia now they're very 132 00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,880 Speaker 1: very careful not to have pig farms near bat roosts, 133 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:48,160 Speaker 1: and even more dramatic outbreak occurred just a few years later. 134 00:08:48,840 --> 00:08:53,120 Speaker 1: Severe acute respiratory syndrome or SARS emerged in southern China 135 00:08:53,200 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: in two thousand and two. It's a deadly a cousin 136 00:08:56,240 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: of COVID nineteen. They're quickly spread across the world. Hum 137 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:05,600 Speaker 1: Field was usked to help investigate its source. And because 138 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:11,160 Speaker 1: of our experience with bats and hand virus and neatle virus, 139 00:09:11,240 --> 00:09:15,320 Speaker 1: and growing awareness that there seemed to be something special 140 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: about bats and these spillover viruses, then we hypothesize that 141 00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:26,600 Speaker 1: bats may play a role in the the origins of stars, 142 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,040 Speaker 1: and so we went down that track. It's interesting to 143 00:09:29,080 --> 00:09:35,120 Speaker 1: reflect on the significance of the discovery of species of 144 00:09:35,640 --> 00:09:41,880 Speaker 1: bats and flying foxes as the natural reservoir of hendra virus, 145 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: because really that finding, I think has potentially colored the 146 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:50,960 Speaker 1: identification of bats or you know, sort of underlying the 147 00:09:50,960 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: identification of various species of bats being associated with this 148 00:09:56,200 --> 00:09:59,920 Speaker 1: suite of other emerging diseases that we're seeing over time. 149 00:10:00,120 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 1: If we have the group that Hume just referred to 150 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 1: also includes a bowl of viruses and lists of virus 151 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:10,600 Speaker 1: which causes rabies, as well as a number of coronaviruses, 152 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: including stars and most likely the one responsible for the 153 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic. So what is it about bats that 154 00:10:18,840 --> 00:10:25,120 Speaker 1: makes them such great virus vectors. That's a quite unique 155 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,959 Speaker 1: if you think about it in terms of them being 156 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:34,319 Speaker 1: a mammal that can fly. So so bats are mammals, 157 00:10:34,400 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 1: they produce milk, they cyclely young, they but they've got 158 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:43,280 Speaker 1: this amazing evolutionary adaptation or ability to be able to 159 00:10:43,320 --> 00:10:51,040 Speaker 1: fly so highly mobile. They also typically live in large populations, 160 00:10:51,160 --> 00:10:55,080 Speaker 1: colonies roost, whether it's the big fruit bats or flying foxes, 161 00:10:55,440 --> 00:11:01,560 Speaker 1: whether it's small microbats in caves, and typically these groups 162 00:11:01,760 --> 00:11:07,400 Speaker 1: have mixed species as well. Um they're relatively long lived 163 00:11:07,880 --> 00:11:10,720 Speaker 1: animals as as a taxa. You know, flying fox are 164 00:11:10,800 --> 00:11:15,360 Speaker 1: certainly recorded I think in captivity to live well into twenties. 165 00:11:15,400 --> 00:11:18,720 Speaker 1: Certainly wouldn't live that long in nature, but certainly, you know, 166 00:11:18,760 --> 00:11:23,000 Speaker 1: they live for years, so all of these factors are 167 00:11:23,720 --> 00:11:29,920 Speaker 1: very attractive for mammalian virus survival and dissemination, if you like. 168 00:11:30,679 --> 00:11:34,760 Speaker 1: According to Hume, bats have evolved and adapted to coexist 169 00:11:34,840 --> 00:11:38,400 Speaker 1: with the viruses that infect them, and so the thinking 170 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,640 Speaker 1: was that, well, you know, these are just viruses of bats, 171 00:11:42,679 --> 00:11:45,240 Speaker 1: and the bats are used to them because they've evolved 172 00:11:45,320 --> 00:11:48,560 Speaker 1: with them, and that's why the bats don't get sick 173 00:11:48,600 --> 00:11:51,640 Speaker 1: with these viruses. But if they spill into other naive, 174 00:11:51,760 --> 00:11:56,040 Speaker 1: immunologically naive species, then they have a dramatic, typically a 175 00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:00,520 Speaker 1: dramatic and often fatal infection. But more recent people have 176 00:12:00,679 --> 00:12:02,840 Speaker 1: dug a bit further to try to understand if there 177 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:06,080 Speaker 1: isn't doing something else going on with bats, and it 178 00:12:06,200 --> 00:12:09,480 Speaker 1: seems that there isn't. Hume now works as a science 179 00:12:09,520 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: and policy adviser with the Eco Health Alliance. It's a 180 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:16,720 Speaker 1: New York based NGO that works to protect wildlife and 181 00:12:16,760 --> 00:12:21,479 Speaker 1: public health from the emergence of disease. Spill over events 182 00:12:21,280 --> 00:12:25,679 Speaker 1: are becoming more risky. Bats, as we heard, are coming 183 00:12:25,679 --> 00:12:29,440 Speaker 1: into closer contact with farm animals, but they're also coming 184 00:12:29,480 --> 00:12:33,200 Speaker 1: into closer contact with humans. A key reason for that 185 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:37,559 Speaker 1: is that bats are losing their habitat. Critically, they're losing 186 00:12:37,600 --> 00:12:48,920 Speaker 1: their natural food source. What you're hearing is the sound 187 00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:52,839 Speaker 1: of gray headed flying foxes roosting. It's dusk and I'm 188 00:12:52,880 --> 00:12:55,240 Speaker 1: sitting on a grassy bank of the Torrens River in 189 00:12:55,240 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: the center of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. I'm 190 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:01,880 Speaker 1: literally a stone throw from the University of Adelaide, my 191 00:13:02,120 --> 00:13:05,200 Speaker 1: Alma Marter behind me, and the Adelaide Zoo on the 192 00:13:05,240 --> 00:13:08,160 Speaker 1: other side of the river. This is a popular place 193 00:13:08,320 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: for the twenty thousand bats hanging upside down from the 194 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:15,000 Speaker 1: eucalyptus trees above me. It's a familiar place for Dr 195 00:13:15,080 --> 00:13:18,960 Speaker 1: Mark Ship, Australia's chief ventinarian, who is based in Canberra 196 00:13:19,280 --> 00:13:22,280 Speaker 1: but also grew up in South Australia. Mark is the 197 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:25,920 Speaker 1: president of the World Organization for Animal Health. He told 198 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:28,840 Speaker 1: me that bats have taken up residency in Adelaide and 199 00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:34,840 Speaker 1: other urban centers, but not by choice. Yes, almost every 200 00:13:34,880 --> 00:13:40,439 Speaker 1: city in Australia now has a resident roost of flying foxes, 201 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,280 Speaker 1: and the fruiting and the flowering trees that these bats 202 00:13:44,360 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: normally feed on have been largely removed from rural Australia, 203 00:13:49,960 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: and so they've been forced into urban centers and suburban 204 00:13:55,320 --> 00:13:59,960 Speaker 1: parkland where there is some flowering trees and some fruiting trees, 205 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: but these are not the preferred diet of the flying 206 00:14:03,800 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: foxes and they're putting those flying foxes under stress. We've 207 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: seen a number of incidents in Australia over recent years 208 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:15,400 Speaker 1: with large scale mortalities of flying foxes due to heat events. 209 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:18,679 Speaker 1: Here in Canberra we had a large hail storm event 210 00:14:18,760 --> 00:14:24,200 Speaker 1: which killed over three hundred flying foxes. It reflects that 211 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:28,640 Speaker 1: their their in centers where they would normally not be present, 212 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: and that they're under stress when they're in those centers. 213 00:14:32,960 --> 00:14:36,280 Speaker 1: There's another concern with mats roosting places like this where 214 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: horses are being kept less than a mile from here. 215 00:14:39,800 --> 00:14:45,720 Speaker 1: For us, that the concern is that where we have parkland, 216 00:14:45,720 --> 00:14:49,600 Speaker 1: we often have horses. And we know that flying foxes 217 00:14:49,680 --> 00:14:54,720 Speaker 1: can transmit hendra virus two horses, and that those horses 218 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:59,000 Speaker 1: in turn can transmit that virus to humans, and and 219 00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:02,320 Speaker 1: that's a fatal ease of both horses and of humans. 220 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:05,640 Speaker 1: And then and then that there is the risk that 221 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:10,680 Speaker 1: the bats themselves will will transmit directly to human populations, 222 00:15:10,720 --> 00:15:14,440 Speaker 1: and there are a number of coronaviruses and other viruses 223 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: that bats carry and can transmit to the human population, 224 00:15:20,120 --> 00:15:23,720 Speaker 1: but there are other consequences of the loss of that habitat. 225 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:28,680 Speaker 1: While these animals can carry some pretty nasty viruses, they 226 00:15:28,680 --> 00:15:34,440 Speaker 1: perform functions vital for the Australian ecosystem. They play very 227 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: important roles in terms of insect control, of pollination and 228 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:43,120 Speaker 1: of seed dispersal. The role that they play in keeping 229 00:15:43,160 --> 00:15:48,520 Speaker 1: down insect numbers which and and insects can transmit disease, 230 00:15:48,560 --> 00:15:52,960 Speaker 1: particularly in Northern Australia, is very important. And then that 231 00:15:53,040 --> 00:15:56,960 Speaker 1: the role that they play in pollinating plants as they 232 00:15:56,960 --> 00:16:00,480 Speaker 1: move between plants and then dispersing see it's where they 233 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:04,080 Speaker 1: eat fruits and disperse the sards so that those plants 234 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:07,840 Speaker 1: become established in other areas is very important and is 235 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:12,040 Speaker 1: a role that no other participant in the ecosystem can ploy. 236 00:16:18,280 --> 00:16:22,600 Speaker 1: In the mammalian world, lifespan is generally proportional to body 237 00:16:22,680 --> 00:16:27,640 Speaker 1: size and metabolic rate. That's defined both these rules. One 238 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: bat species weighing just seven grams or a quarter of 239 00:16:31,040 --> 00:16:34,680 Speaker 1: an ounce, can live for more than forty years. It's 240 00:16:34,680 --> 00:16:37,840 Speaker 1: one of a number of quirks of these critics, Professor 241 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:41,440 Speaker 1: Linda Wang has been unlocking the secrets of bats since 242 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:46,280 Speaker 1: the nine He was the scientist who isolated and characterized 243 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:51,400 Speaker 1: hendra virus and identified its viralogical cousin neiper Actually it 244 00:16:51,560 --> 00:16:55,720 Speaker 1: was Lindfa who named the genus to which they both belong, hennepervirus. 245 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,000 Speaker 1: Back then he was working at the Australian Animal Health 246 00:16:59,040 --> 00:17:02,040 Speaker 1: Laboratory just outs out of Melbourne. He now heads the 247 00:17:02,080 --> 00:17:06,840 Speaker 1: Emerging Infectious Diseases Program at Singapore's Duke and US Medical School. 248 00:17:07,440 --> 00:17:10,399 Speaker 1: For the past thirteen years, he's devoted his career to 249 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:15,960 Speaker 1: studying bat biology and bat immunology, particularly its defense against viruses. 250 00:17:16,880 --> 00:17:19,639 Speaker 1: He's brought a number of researchers along with him in Australia, 251 00:17:19,880 --> 00:17:22,640 Speaker 1: Singapore and now China, where he was born and did 252 00:17:22,720 --> 00:17:27,280 Speaker 1: his undergrad degree in scientific Circles. Lympha is sometimes known 253 00:17:27,280 --> 00:17:30,600 Speaker 1: as the Batman. People give me the nickname of Batman 254 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: that I tried to cut them, that I actually don't 255 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:36,840 Speaker 1: started bad bat. Morris Lympha serves on the World Health 256 00:17:36,920 --> 00:17:41,200 Speaker 1: Organization's Emergency Committee, advising the Director General on the current 257 00:17:41,240 --> 00:17:44,960 Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic. It's a reflection of the knowledge he 258 00:17:45,000 --> 00:17:48,240 Speaker 1: in his twenty person lab have amassed on these animals, 259 00:17:49,040 --> 00:17:52,320 Speaker 1: and we have been focusing on the question of why that's, 260 00:17:52,359 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: why that's are so different, why they can carry so 261 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:57,280 Speaker 1: many whiles and themselves do not get sick, and why 262 00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:00,320 Speaker 1: that's lives so long, consider they're living in my moments, 263 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:03,760 Speaker 1: and also the strap they have during fly and also 264 00:18:03,840 --> 00:18:06,600 Speaker 1: the pastern and they're exposed is much much more than 265 00:18:07,160 --> 00:18:09,960 Speaker 1: a non flying mammal. It turns out that the immune 266 00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: system of these flying mammals is different to that of 267 00:18:12,880 --> 00:18:17,680 Speaker 1: terrestrial mammals. Bat's react to infections at an earlier stage, 268 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,520 Speaker 1: arresting them before they cause any disease. That enables bats 269 00:18:22,520 --> 00:18:28,200 Speaker 1: to avoid the damaging inflammatory immune response. Other mammals, including humans, 270 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: often mount in response to virulent infections. So our current 271 00:18:32,600 --> 00:18:39,680 Speaker 1: working hypothesis is that that's have a much better the Torrents. 272 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:44,919 Speaker 1: Pathologists studying COVID nineteen and other pathogenic viruses have observed 273 00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 1: that when the body initially recognizes an infection, various white 274 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: blood cells that consume pathogens and help heal damage tissue 275 00:18:53,800 --> 00:18:58,159 Speaker 1: act as first responders. In some severe infections, the body's 276 00:18:58,200 --> 00:19:01,639 Speaker 1: effort to heal itself maybe two robust, leading to the 277 00:19:01,720 --> 00:19:05,960 Speaker 1: destruction of not just virus infected cells, but healthy tissue. 278 00:19:06,520 --> 00:19:11,160 Speaker 1: It's that inflammatory response that ends up being deadly. Bats 279 00:19:11,359 --> 00:19:15,560 Speaker 1: don't suffer the same fate that can defend themselves launch 280 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:19,560 Speaker 1: this inflammation, but they don't go over. Okay. So this 281 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:22,400 Speaker 1: is a very big area of research, and I think 282 00:19:22,480 --> 00:19:26,240 Speaker 1: we human can live Lympha says he's convinced bats offer 283 00:19:26,520 --> 00:19:30,240 Speaker 1: important insights into the regulation of the immune system that 284 00:19:30,400 --> 00:19:33,879 Speaker 1: may inform ways the human body can better tackle COVID 285 00:19:33,960 --> 00:19:37,960 Speaker 1: nineteen and other viral diseases. So my slogan now is 286 00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:41,280 Speaker 1: my study is basically learning from that that have so 287 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:45,120 Speaker 1: much of the teachers For one thing, lymph is intrigued 288 00:19:45,160 --> 00:19:48,320 Speaker 1: that species of that that way is just seven grams, 289 00:19:48,359 --> 00:19:50,879 Speaker 1: has a heart that beats more than one thousand times 290 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:54,040 Speaker 1: per minute during flight. It flies for five to eight 291 00:19:54,080 --> 00:19:57,600 Speaker 1: hours daily and can live for forty three years. This 292 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:01,480 Speaker 1: is all down with the same heart without any medication, 293 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:06,119 Speaker 1: with any in the hygiene. You imagine that, right, It's incredible. 294 00:20:06,680 --> 00:20:10,480 Speaker 1: It's little wondered that Lindfa is working with cardiologists who 295 00:20:10,680 --> 00:20:14,080 Speaker 1: study the heart muscles of bats just one of a 296 00:20:14,240 --> 00:20:19,040 Speaker 1: number of medical disciplines he's recruited into his backpack have 297 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:23,159 Speaker 1: been able to mobilize, not in passion disease to people, genomics, people, 298 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:28,240 Speaker 1: immunologists and the case of bologists and now cardiologists are collaboys. 299 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:31,520 Speaker 1: Need just started back. My personal dream you have enough money, 300 00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:34,200 Speaker 1: is to statue a bad institute. I think that we 301 00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:37,320 Speaker 1: have lots to learn from back that can help us 302 00:20:37,400 --> 00:20:42,119 Speaker 1: identify what viruses of pandemic potential are lurking in nature, 303 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:44,840 Speaker 1: as well as ways we might be able to mitigate 304 00:20:44,880 --> 00:20:48,400 Speaker 1: their threat. They're just one example of how humans are 305 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:54,920 Speaker 1: profoundly affected by what happens in global ecosystems. To anticipate, prevent, 306 00:20:55,040 --> 00:20:58,720 Speaker 1: and respond to disease threats like COVID nineteen means taking 307 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:02,399 Speaker 1: an increasingly why right angled look at the natural world. 308 00:21:09,680 --> 00:21:12,680 Speaker 1: And that's it for this special episode of the Prognosis 309 00:21:12,760 --> 00:21:16,320 Speaker 1: Daily Edition. For more on the pandemic from our bureaus 310 00:21:16,359 --> 00:21:21,960 Speaker 1: around the world, visit Bloomberg dot com slash Coronavirus, and 311 00:21:22,040 --> 00:21:24,480 Speaker 1: if you like the podcast, please take a moment to 312 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:27,120 Speaker 1: rate us and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts 313 00:21:27,320 --> 00:21:31,280 Speaker 1: or Spotify. It helps more listeners find our global reporting. 314 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,840 Speaker 1: The Prognosis Daily edition is hosted by Me Laura Carlson. 315 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,159 Speaker 1: The show was produced by Me. Top foreheads Jordan Gaspore 316 00:21:40,600 --> 00:21:46,200 Speaker 1: and Magnus Henriksson. Reporting by Jason Gale. Original music by 317 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:50,800 Speaker 1: Leo sidran Our editors are Francesca Levi and Rick Shine. 318 00:21:51,520 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 1: Francesco Levi is Bloomberg's head of podcasts. Thanks for listening.