Present and future distribution of bat hosts of sarbecoviruses: implications for conservation and public health.

Global changes in response to human encroachment into natural habitats and carbon emissions are driving the biodiversity extinction crisis and increasing disease emergence risk. Host distributions are one critical component to identify areas at risk of viral spillover, and bats act as reservoirs of diverse viruses. We developed a reproducible ecological niche modelling pipeline for bat hosts of SARS-like viruses (subgenus Sarbecovirus), given that several closely related viruses have been discovered and sarbecovirus-host interactions have gained attention since SARS-CoV-2 emergence. We assessed sampling biases and modelled current distributions of bats based on climate and landscape relationships and project future scenarios for host hotspots. The most important predictors of species distributions were temperature seasonality and cave availability. We identified concentrated host hotspots in Myanmar and projected range contractions for most species by 2100. Our projections indicate hotspots will shift east in Southeast Asia in locations greater than 2°C hotter in a fossil-fuelled development future. Hotspot shifts have implications for conservation and public health, as loss of population connectivity can lead to local extinctions, and remaining hotspots may concentrate near human populations.

An overview of COVID-19 aerosol box for preventing droplet and aerosol contaminations in healthcare providers performing airway intubation.

The COVID-19 is caused by the SARS-CoV-2, which is extremely infectious. Numerous virologist suggestions and guidelines advised using P2/N95 masks, gloves, goggles, face-shields, and frocks or gowns as routine specific protective tools during airway management to protect healthcare personnel from infection (PPE). However, numerous imitation research has indicated that conventional PPE cannot adequately protect healthcare personnel. Since then, numerous firms and healthcare professionals have created their personal reformed devices 'aerosol containment devices' (ACD). Their usage has expanded throughout the world without being properly evaluated for usefulness, efficacy, or safety. The practice of 'ACD' has been shown to make tracheal intubation (TI) more problematic in several simulated tests. Furthermore, the device should limit the transmission of droplets from a patient; however, it might put healthcare personnel at danger of being exposed to greater levels of viral aerosols. Consequently, the existing state of information suggests that 'ACD' deprived of a vacuum mechanism can simply protect healthcare personnel against viral transmission to a limited extent. We search various databases for the literature with keywords 'COVID-19,' 'aerosol box,' 'aerosol contaminations,' and 'droplet contaminations.' The current review focused on the aerosol box from various perspectives, including their mechanism, optimum time of use, the spread of aerosol control, current gaps, and future perspective for bridging those gaps.

Does public fear that bats spread COVID-19 jeopardize bat conservation?

With >1 400 species, bats comprise the second-largest order of mammals and provide critical ecological services as insect consumers, pollinators, and seed dispersers. Yet, bats are frequently associated with infectious human diseases such as SARS, MERS, and Ebola. As early as the end of January 2020, several virological studies have suggested bats as a probable origin for SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19. How does the public view the role of bats in COVID-19? Here we report pilot data collected shortly after the outbreak of COVID-19 using two online surveys, combined with a conservation intervention experiment, primarily on people who are receiving or have received higher education in China. We found that 84% of the participants of an online survey (n = 13 589) have misunderstood the relationship between bats and COVID-19, which strengthened negative attitudes towards bats. Knowledge of bats, gender, and education level of the participants affected their attitudes towards bats. Participants who indicated a better knowledge of bats had a more positive attitude towards bats. The proportion of female participants who had negative attitudes towards bats was higher than that of male participants. Participants with a higher education level indicated a more positive attitude towards bats after the outbreak of COVID-19. A specially prepared bat conservation lecture improved peoples' knowledge of bats and the positive attitudes, but failed to correct the misconception that bats transmit SARS-CoV-2 to humans directly. We suggest that the way virologists frame the association of bats with diseases, the countless frequently inaccurate media coverages, and the natural perceptual bias of bats carrying and transmitting diseases to humans contributed to the misunderstandings. This probably led to a rise in the events of evicting bats from dwellings and structures by humans and the legislative proposal for culling disease-relevant wildlife in China. A better understanding of the relationship between disease, wildlife and human health could help guide the public and policymakers in an improved program for bat conservation.