Why has deforestation made animals eat bat poop?

A study recorded mammals feeding on animal feces for the first time. bat in the forests of Uganda. Rich in various minerals, the substrate was the way these animals found to meet the demand for nutrients after the deforestation of the region.

In addition to phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and sodium, bat feces contained 27 types of virus different, one of them being a new betacoronavirus, the same genus as Sars-Cov-2, responsible for the 2020 pandemic.

The study was published in the journal communication biologyconnected to Natureon April 22.

Between 2006 and 2012, palm trees of the species Raphia farinifera were almost extinct from the Budongo forest in Uganda. Tobacco companies have strengthened in the region due to growing international demand and incentives for companies with long-term operations in the country.

To the R. farinifera They are useful for making ropes where tobacco leaves are left to dry. These plants provided essential minerals for the region’s wildlife. Since they were extirpated, animals such as chimpanzees They began to adapt their diets, ingesting clay and termite mounds.

In 2017, researchers observed previously unrecorded behavior of several species of animals feeding on bat feces. Between 2017 and 2019, researchers recorded 839 videos that showed the consumption of waste by wildlife.

The new betacoronavirus

This behavior can expose these animals to bat-associated viruses. Each stool sample analyzed by the researchers had an average of 14.5 viruses. In more than half of them, there was a new betacoronavirus, called Buhirugu virus 1 (BHRGV-1). The new virus shares the same genus as Sars-Cov-2, but is in the subgenus Hibecovirus while Sars-Cov-2 is part of the Sarbecovirus.

In the case of BHRGV-1, studies are still lacking to understand the connection of the virus’s proteins to mammalian cells.

For now, there are no records of infections by coronavirus in Uganda’s wildlife. But the study highlights that multiple outbreaks of respiratory disease have been observed among chimpanzees in the Budongo forest and the causes remain unknown.

Epidemiological data and analyzes of virus genomic recombination suggest that about half of human bat-associated coronavirus infections arise from wildlife reservoirs. These viruses pass through an intermediate host before reaching humans.

Other cases of respiratory disease in chimpanzees in Uganda have resulted in transmission from humans to monkeys. One of the human betacoronaviruses is even capable of causing clinical diseases in chimpanzees.

The results of the study help trace the chain of events that lead to the transmission of diseases between species and to people.

The research highlights that there are other diseases transmitted to humans from wild animals, such as ebola. In this case, humans were likely infected by coming into contact with carcasses.

Although the origin of this virus is still poorly understood, some analyzes show that the disease outbreak occurred when primates were infected by bats. In this way, they served as intermediate hosts for the virus and increased transmission.

Read the full study in the magazine communications biology.