Harrisburg – Pennsylvania Game Commission biologists had to back off some of their work with bats this year because the coronavirus risk prevented them from taking a hands-on approach.
Studies that require physical handling of bats were called off this year, but it wasn’t because biologists were worried about contracting the virus from bats.
It was the other way around.
According to PGC Wildlife Biologist Greg Turner, much of the work with bats was canceled due to concerns of reverse zoonosis, which occurs when people infect animals. Turner said it’s possible that a person infected with a coronavirus, which includes SARS and MERS, could infect bats when handled. Turner added that research indicates bats in North America aren’t carrying the virus, and the survey work was canceled in order to keep it that way.
“We shut down all handling of bats for the year to get a handle on if bats can get it and what that would mean,” he said.
There is an ongoing study seeking to find an answer.
The National Wildlife Health Center in Wisconsin is conducting an exposure trial on big brown bats to determine if they can contract the virus. Also, the PGC worked with the University of Pennsylvania to develop a test that analyzes bat guano to detect the virus, according to Turner.
The test has already been utilized among wildlife rehabilitators that take in bats. While rehabbers typically release bats in the spring, they were instructed to hodl them until the test was ready this summer.
In addition, the PGC established a central facility near Harrisburg this summer to house bats that were at rehabilitation centers across the state. The central, bat-only facility contained a high level of bio-security and each bat was isolated. Turner said there were four to five dozen bats at the center, and each one was tested twice for the virus before being released. None of the bats tested positive, he said.
As far as bats infecting humans with the virus – which is believed to be the origin of COVID-19 in China – Turner said the risk is low when PPE is utilized. Also, North America doesn’t have the wet markets that are common in China where it’s believed the virus originated, he added.
“The last update we had is our bats won’t pick up the virus. Other species, like the flying fox bat (native to Asia) can readily pick it up,” Turner said. “We still want to be cautious at this point.”
Despite not being able to handle bats for the time being, agency biologists still conducted other surveys. Maternity counts, which are conducted from a distance, and acoustic surveys were still held, and white nose syndrome research was completed in late winter before COVID-19 concerns arose.
Turner is hopeful the bat work can resume in entirety next year.
“Right now the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said, with proper PPE, it’s safe to work with bats. I’m optimistic we’ll be pretty close to normal for next year,” he said.
But it remains to be seen how much of an impact a coronavirus can have on bats if they’re infected.
It’s believed that a bats’ immune system doesn’t react to the virus, which would make it dormant and avoid any major outbreaks. But if an infected bat becomes stressed, it can exhibit a higher rate of shedding of the virus.
And in Pennsylvania and other states, bats are being stressed by white nose syndrome. Currently, WNS has a 98.9% mortality rate for cave bats in Pennsylvania.
“The big concern is if an animal becomes stressed in hibernation with white nose syndrome, that may be enough of a stressor to activate the virus,” Turner said. “White nose syndrome could be the underlying issue for the virus to cause mortality.”
- This story originally appeared in PA Outdoor News
