A Straight Bat?

A paper in 'The Scientist' raises the topical question 'Why bats make such good viral hosts?' (https://www.the-scientist.com/notebook/why-bats-make-such-good-viral-hosts-64251). Bats are the only Mammals with powered flight, meaning that they can move around environments, making them very effective transmitters. In deed, bats are vectors of some of the deadliest zoonotic viral infections. These include Ebola, Marburg, Nipah and Sars-CoV-2. Bats don't, however, appear to get sick, in spite of having unusually high microbial loads. Being sick would make flight impossible. Genetic studies show that bats, unlike other Mammals, have a particular mutation in their Stimulator of Interferon Gene (STING). STING detects foreign DNA and RNA 'lurking' in the cytoplasm of host cells. It triggers the rapid production of interferons. These proteins launch the immune response against viruses. The mutation in bats (which changes a single amino acid) actually reduces 'the storm' of interferons. This enables bats to simply tolerate their viruses. Other Mammals, like humans, lack this gene mutation and show a much more powerful immune response to viral infections. in the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, it was noted that a rampant immune response could be life-threatening in people. It seems that we are too viral intolerant for our own good?