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Human disturbance increases coronavirus prevalence in bats
Vera M Warmuth1, Dirk Metzler1, Veronica Zamora-Gutierrez2
1Division of Evolutionary Biology, Faculty of Biology, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Großhaderner Straße 2, 82152 Martinsried, Germany.
Science Advances
|March 31, 2023
Summary
Human land modification, including agriculture and deforestation, intensifies bat coronavirus prevalence. This finding is crucial for understanding and preventing zoonotic spillover events like COVID-19.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Epidemiology
- Conservation Biology
Background:
- Human land modification is a primary driver of zoonotic spillover.
- Wildlife infection prevalence is a key factor in spillover risk.
- Landscape-level data linking land use intensity to wildlife infection rates are scarce.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between human land modification intensity and bat coronavirus prevalence.
- To identify key land modification drivers impacting wildlife infection rates.
- To assess the role of wildlife infection prevalence in zoonotic disease emergence hotspots.
Main Methods:
- Statistical analysis linking high-resolution land modification data with bat coronavirus surveillance records.
- Assessment across diverse climates and biodiversity levels.
- Identification of significant land modification contributors (agriculture, deforestation, mining).
Main Results:
- Coronavirus prevalence in bats significantly increases with human impact intensity.
- This relationship holds across various climates and biodiversity levels.
- Agriculture, deforestation, and mining are major contributors to human impact.
Conclusions:
- Intensified human land modification elevates bat coronavirus prevalence.
- High predicted bat coronavirus prevalence areas overlap with global disease hotspots.
- Wildlife infection prevalence is a critical factor in zoonotic disease emergence linked to land use change.
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