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RIO – Without fanfare, under the waning moon of early September, a new front began to fight Covid-19 in Rio de Janeiro. Covered from head to toe by EPP, the Fiocruz scientists entered a forest in the Macizo da Pedra Branca, in Jacarepaguá, with one objective: to catch bats.
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The interest is explained: a bat virus is believed to have originated Sars-CoV-2. Little is known about this, and one way to learn is to find out if bats in the Atlantic Forest have been infected. Furthermore, the Fiocruz group tries to identify and, of course, prevent the spread of other viruses with the potential to cause pandemics.
Darkness hides the way, but it soon becomes clear that we are in what researchers call the “hot zone” of disease emergencies, densely populated by humans and wild animals.
Just listen: in a house on the edge of the forest, the voices sing an evangelical hymn; for them songs and drums of an Afro cult merge, coming from a more distant point; the soundtrack is completed with the occasional participation of crickets and frogs. The barking of dogs and the neighing of a horse lost in the dark forest remind us: the urban is there. But as you go, the hooting of owls and the hissing, almost chirping, of flocks of bats.
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Aligned with ongoing global studies from Africa to Asia, the project is led by Fiocruz Mata Atlântica in collaboration with the Respiratory Virus and Measles and Comparative and Environmental Virology laboratories, both of the Oswaldo Cruz Institute (IOC / Fiocruz) and has the support of the foundation to promote state research, Faperj.
The study, which includes other animals, combines laboratory research with field work. This imposes the need to move through the forest with an apron, mask, mask and headlight. In Rio, there is the difficulty of the heat, intense even on a late winter night.
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More than 200 types of coronavirus have been discovered in bats around the world. According to the United Nations Environment Program report “Prevention of the next pandemic”, they are likely the source of all known strains, including those that generated SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (respiratory syndrome). Middle East). ). Flying mammals are also associated with other viruses, such as Ebola.
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A coronavirus from a Chinese horseshoe bat would be the ancestor of the cause of Covid-19. But, the coordinator of the study led by Fiocruz, Ricardo Moratelli, explains that there is no evidence that Sars-CoV-2 jumped directly off the bat.
– This strain has been circulating in humans for at least 40 years. And some mutation turned it into a pandemic. Who spreads the disease is the human being and it spreads not only between people, but also to animals – says Moratelli.
Brazil is the richest country in the world in species of bats. There are 15% of them, 178, of which 113 are from the Atlantic Forest. In Brazil, the colonies are usually not large, with a few dozen individuals. But they are everywhere. From forests to openings between buildings, roofs and square trees.
In the municipality of Rio de Janeiro, 50 species of bats have already been registered. Of these, at least 29 are found in the Fiocruz Mata Atlântica ecological reserve, in the Macizo da Pedra Branca, where the study is carried out, which offers the advantage of combining wild and urban species.
Moratelli explains that forests are ecological filters, shields that protect people from disease. When the forest ceases to exist, viruses move on. They do not disappear. They look for new hosts: dogs, cats, cows, people.
The more numerous the new hosts, the better for viruses. An example is the Covid-19 pandemic. In other words: killing bats only compounds the problem. Contact should be avoided.
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– The human being breaks the balance when coming into contact with them – says biologist Roberto Novaes, a specialist in bats, who guides the capture in the forest. – Bats provide essential services, such as control of agricultural pests and disease-carrying insects. Some disperse seeds or pollinate plants like bananas, cashews, and mangoes.
Detail: bats carry many viruses because they survive them. Resistance is believed to have to do with the fact that bats are the only flying mammals. Flying takes an immense metabolic cost and this means that they need to have a robust immune system to handle free radicals, released by the energy consumption of flight. They also have a great capacity for DNA regeneration, otherwise they would not survive.
Art of catching bats
Capturing bats safely requires planning and equipment. Novaes and the Fiocruz Mata Atlântica fauna survey specialist Iuri Veríssimo enter the forest and extend special nets. Black, they become almost imperceptible as it gets dark. They are thin, light and resistant, like silk threads.
Bats are oriented by echolocation but, contrary to what many think, they see well. The networks must deceive your vision and your keen sense of direction. And they can only be installed at night, to avoid catching an unsuspecting bird.
While Novaes and Veríssimo set up the nets, the scientists who study viruses set up a kind of field laboratory in a shed near the forest. They go into the forest every hour to see if they have caught bats.
Less than an hour after the sun sets, the first bat is captured. A pregnant female, heavy to fly higher, was distracted and trapped. Others of different species follow. Some are as small as sparrows, others the size of pigeons.
Trapped bats scream, as if asking for help from their flocks, which respond with whistles and fly over teams on the field.
– We need to handle them with great care so as not to hurt them, they are very delicate. Nor can we contaminate ourselves with any microorganisms that they may have – explains biologist Maria Ogrzwalska, from the OIC, a specialist in emerging diseases and environmental changes.
Once captured and placed in cloth bags, the bats are weighed, secretions are collected for PCR testing, feces are collected for examination, examined, measured, and finally released.
At night, it is endless work. Captured bats are hung in their bags on a kind of clothesline. One by one they are tested. At the head of the field team is the wildlife veterinarian Marina Galvão Bueno, from the IOC, one of the research coordinators.
When the lab team is done, Novaes takes the examined animal and returns it to the forest. In seconds, the bat disappears into the forest. The work begins again, it is only at the beginning.
