Bat research could help cure severe infections such as Ebola

Bats could hold the key to curing severe, life-threatening infections, such as Ebola, SARS and MERS. Australian CSIRO scientists have discovered the reason for bats’ zero mortality rate from infections such as Ebola, which kill 90% of infected humans, is due to interferon genes which permanently activate the bats’ immune system. In contrast, humans only stimulate immunity during infection. The research was published this week in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences [Link] Read the CSIRO report here [Link].