After the death of two infants from rabies from the bite of a bat in the state of oaxacathe director of El Sayab Planetarium, Christopher Carrion reported that no tourist who visits cenotes should fear these mammals, which really help the reproduction of plants, being the best pollinators on earth.
The biologist also explained for the newspaper Por Esto! that he batas well as any other wild animal, not all have rabies, no matter what species it is, because they can be frugivorous, which consume fruits and even hematophagous, which feed on the blood of animals.
But they are well able to catch and transmit rabies, through the colonies of batsas well as other animals. The means of contagion can be through saliva.
“There are also not only diseases like rabies, because when they make their homes in the caves, part of their excrement, which is the same material with which they make their burrows, can have fungi, and when these fall into the water of the cenotes, but when they fall to the ground and dry they can damage the lungs,” he said.
Cristóbal Carrión clarified that in matters such as rabies, which is a virus, there is still no cure, since people in the world continue to get sick from the flu, but the bacteria die with the consumption of antibiotics, “rabies is a virus and this is contracted by mammals, such as dogs, cats and even humans; However, it is more likely, according to statistics, that children can die from the bite of a rabid dog than from a rabid bat”, he highlighted.
Regarding why this mammal attacked humans, Cristóbal Carrión stated that, like any other species on the planet, it was defending its territory or probably its young, for which reason it was threatened and thus sought to protect itself.
“People may approach with a stick or stones, trying to harm the bats and they try to protect themselves. Of course, rabies alters the behavior of mammals, makes them somewhat more aggressive and angry. That is why the bites appear in rural areas or with the same explorers who go to the cenotes of the jungle, ”he clarified.
All species contract bacteriological diseases, but the problem occurs when humans invade these sites and that is when what doctors call zoonosis happens, which is the infection of bacteriological and viral agents, which are transmitted from one species to another. which is what happened with the coronavirus and avian flu, he explained.
“I think there is an excessive fear of bats, because of the vampire stories. Not all bats are sick, but the populations of these infected animals may be fluttering in the civic plaza, but they have to be studied, ”he said.
Christopher Carrion urged the population not to panic because they were close to the bats when they go to visit the cenotes, because they bring many benefits to the population, because little is known that bats pollinate agave and pineapple, among other fruits and vegetables.
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Not all bats are bad: Director of the ‘El Sayab’ Planetarium in Playa del Carmen