A new health concern for animal life may be raised in South America.
Health experts have warned for decades about the implications of diseases being spread through bats and other creatures. Experts have recently been raising alarm bells in Mexico due to a new deadly disease that has been found in vampire bats, and it could already be circulating.
What implications will this disease have on livestock farming around the world?
How some diseases have spread like wildfire via bats and other creatures
The manner in which bats and other creatures spread disease has become clearer to us in recent years.
When bats are in flight, their metabolism rises, which creates a “fever” of sorts. These are near-perfect conditions for some diseases and infections to spread as the bats land on non-flying mammals with significantly lower temperatures.
We have come to understand that bats have a far more complex internal “protection” against the viral infections that they carry.
Unlike us humans, bats have evolved remarkable immune systems that protect them from over 200 known viruses they have been proven to carry at any given moment.
Many have pointed to bats being the origin point for COVID-19 in humans.
We have prevented many infections from crossing the animal-human border
Our collective study of the world of animal life that we share the planet with has benefited mankind in multiple ways.
We have seen the global scientific research community come together to prevent the worst-case scenarios when some viral infections pose a serious risk of jumping the border between animals and humans.
By studying animal life and the fossils of ancient forms of life, we have made remarkable progress in developing our collective knowledge.
An example is the discovery of what is certainly the largest turtle trackway ever recorded from 83 million years ago. The world has come to better understand how studying animal life can change how we think about ourselves.
Some species of animals are extremely reclusive and steer well clear of humans, such as sperm whales.
Researchers recently recorded video footage of the iconic whales giving birth, only to discover that they exhibit a remarkably similar trait to humans during the miracle of birth.
Thankfully, our study of life in all its forms has saved mankind from devastating illnesses.
A recent study, “Emerging risks at the vampire bat–prion interface: implications for wildlife, livestock, and public health,” published in the Journal of Mammalogy in March 2026, has detailed the latest concern for mammals around the world.
Study reveals worrying new illness that may be spreading to livestock
Chronic wasting disease is an extremely contagious, almost always fatal neurological disease that is sometimes known as “zombie disease.”
Unlike other diseases, it is not caused by bacteria or a virus. It is actually caused by prions, which are folded proteins that trick normal protein cells to fold as well, leading to brain damage and death. We have learnt how different human DNA may enable some to handle infections better than others.
While the illness is mostly found in deer, it has also turned up in cows and other types of domesticated livestock on farms.
CWS is spreading in bats
The aforementioned study published in the Journal of Mammalogy has investigated the potential that vampire bats, or Desmodus rotundus, could be spreading CWS to livestock as the disease spreads southward to Mexico.
The study notes how these vampire bats could transfer CWS to other animals, including livestock, which could eventually make its way to humans as well.
Science has built a catalog of information regarding life on our planet, but this study has warned that this specific bat may be about to cause chaos as the disease heads towards our Southern neighbors.