Why do viruses often come from bats?

This was a fascinating discussion. I had no idea that humans had so many similarities to bats. Not only that, but bats are far from the only creatures that carry millions of viruses.

"Q: Why is it always bats? (that harbor dangerous viruses that spill over into humans)
A: It's complicated.
TL;DR - Bats are a perfect storm of: genetic proximity to humans (as fellow mammals), keystone species interacting with many others in the environment (including via respiratory secretions and blood-transmission), great immune systems for spreading dangerous viruses, flight, social structure, hibernation, etc.

You may not be fully aware, but unless your head has been stuffed in the sand, you've probably heard, at some point, that X virus "lives in bats." It's been said about: Rabies, Hendra/Nipah, Ebola, Chikungunya, Rift Valley Fever, St. Louis Encephalitis, and yes, SARS, MERS, and, now probably SARS-CoV-2 (with the addition of another intermediate species?)

Bats really do harbor more viruses than other species groups!

But why? Why is it always bats? The answer lies in the unique niche bats fill in our ecosystem."

https://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/gehvui/why_do_viruses_often_come_from_bats_a_discussion/

 

If I'm bitten by a radioactive WuHan bat, will I become Super-Antiduopolist?

What will my powers be?

 

My magic 8 ball says the chances are highly likely you will then be able to speak Cantonese in your sleep.

 

The short answer is that bottom feeders like bats, rats, pigeons, etc. that have adapted to exist on the crap of society have to have strong immune systems or they'd be taken down by almost anything they eat. Unfortunately sometimes those bugs make the jump to us. Nature is filled with epidemics but we obvious are a lot more in tune to those that affect people.

 

You'll be like Batman, just without the trust fund.

...unless you have a trust fund.

 

Well, if you lived upside down in a cold dark damp cave your entire life, ate nothing but disease carrying flying insects and defecation accumulated on your floor to over 4’ deep in which millions of cockroaches lived and bred then I’m sure you’ll be a fatal disease carrying son b*tch also.

 

Someone in Wuhan killed the bat's parents and now everyone in Gothem aka NYC knows its presence.

 

This is on track to become best thread ever.

 

You already are super in our eyes.

 

You will become exempt from entropy, and walk the earth without limit forever, a superhero.