Tourists often visit a cave in that researchers studied in Myanmar- Linno Cave- had more than half a million bats! Tourists would visit the area to watch the bats leave the cave each night. Caves in Myanmar also serve as religious sites, and local people go there to collect bat droppings for fertilizer. Personally, I think droppings are for making things dirty and disgusting, but, apparently, they are used for fertilizing. Researchers in Myanmar gathered and tested four hundred sixty-four bats from at least eleven species and collected seven hundred fifty-nine guano, the droppings. From these bats (and droppings), researchers already have confirmed that six bats have coronaviruses.
I think that people having a virus is already enough, but having animals also have a virus- and having them spread it- is a bit overwhelming. First of all, why and how did bats even get the coronavirus? Maybe people brought it to them? According to the article, humans might have transmitted COVID-19 to bats, but the National Institutes of Health claims it is likely that bats originated COVID-19. Secondly, why do people even collect bat droppings? I think that is downright disgusting. Finally, if bats originate viruses, should not we humans not collect bat droppings? The article also states that bats started and can carry SARS, MERS, and Ebola, so we should humans learn from that experience.