Mauritian health authorities are said to be monitoring the evolution of a new virus, the Khosta-2, which can reportedly use the human ACE-2 receptors to enter cells just like Sars-CoV-2 that led to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Scientists globally are worried that in case of a spillover event- a virus jumping from one species to another – it might be able to effectively infect humans.
Identified in horse-shoe bat samples in the US, the Khosta-2 is said to be a source of concerns since Mauritius has a large population of bats.
The population of bats is estimated at 65,000.
Dr Sok Appadu, Director of the ENT Hospital, said “no study so far has shown that the bats of Mauritius are carriers of any disease or that they have ever attacked humans.”
Bats are the only mammals native to the Mascarene Islands. Once there were three fruit bat species, one is now extinct, leaving one species each on Mauritius (Pteropus niger) and Rodrigues (P. rodricensis).
According to the Mauritius Wildlife Foundation, the Mauritian Fruit Bat (or Flying Fox) is a controversial figure in Mauritius with the fruit growers lobbying for culls and the conservationists for protection.
