Humans are creating hot spots where bats could transmit zoonotic diseases
A new map shows how human actions are affecting outbreak risks, sometimes in surprising places, which could be a valuable tool in preventing the next pandemic.
As human settlements creep ever closer to wildlife habitat, replacing swaths of forests with development and farmland, scientists fear those land-use changes could spur the evolution of zoonotic diseases such as COVID-19. Areas that have seen dramatic transformations and are home to large bat populations, some scientists believe, could prove to be the starting point of the next coronavirus pandemic.
A group of researchers recently set out to identify where future outbreaks might occur, creating a map of potential hot spots—areas with ingredients potentially favorable to SARS-related coronavirus spillovers. They searched for locations that have a high concentration of Asian horseshoe bats, which host the greatest diversity of coronaviruses, and high levels of both human and livestock settlement and forest fragmentation.
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