Bat coronaviruses silently infect tens of thousands of people each year, posing pandemic risk, study warns

There may be an average of over 65,000 cases of bat coronaviruses silently infecting people every year in Southeast Asia, according to a new study that could lead to new tools for improving preparedness against future pandemics. The flying mammals are known to host coronaviruses that may be transmitted to people, including SARS-related coronaviruses. Previous studies have suggested that transmission of these viruses to humans may be relatively common in some parts of the world. However, human-bat interactions are also known to vary across regions, influenced by a variety of social, ecological, and economic factors at individual and community scales. The research, published on Tuesday in the journal Nature Communications, used a new framework to estimate and map the risk of potential SARS-related coronaviruses spreading from bats to humans in Southeast Asia.