Scientists Stumble on Vampire Bats, Sucking Human Blood for the First Time
Human blood is on the ‘hit list’ of the uncultivated vampire bats and it is attributable to transform their habitat, found a new study. Wild vampire bats, which were previously known to be addicted from other birds’ blood, for the first time found to suck human blood. For the first time, a team of scientists hit upon wild vampire bat which is moving from birds’ blood to human, leaving a serious concern for the spread of infection among other species.
Vampire bats, which previously love feasting animal blood, are now moving towards human and one of its instances has already been spotted in Brazil. According to one of the top researcher on Vampire bats, “It seems the wild vampire bats are not satisfied with mere birds’ blood now. They have become passionate about human blood.”
The study led by Professor Enrico Bernard and his associates from the Federal University of Pernambuco revealed that, in six months, the death of 12 children has been registered because of the assaults made by rabies-infested vampire bats. This shocking news has brought up great concerns to the health services in Peru and Brazil as the biting of vampire birds can spread serious and untreatable syndromes.
The researchers from the Federal University of Pernambuco analyzed a total of 70 faecal samples, collected from a camp of hairy-legged vampire bats, called D ecaudata, living in Catimbau National Park, located in the north-east Brazil. Surprisingly, the researchers, after analyzing the samples, found three samples which carried the DNA of blood from humans, which is quite shocking. Out of 70 tested samples, three were found to be human DNA.
According to Enrico Bernard, “After finding the Human blood DNA from the samples of vampire bats, we were shocked and surprised. This wild species has never found to intake the blood of mammals, and the surprising discovery of human blood DNA is a strong indication that the wild creature is changing its menu.”
Since the discovery of the vampire bats, the creature is found to attack birds at night, sucking a dollop of blood from each of the animals as their meal. As human or mammal blood are thicker and less fatty than of the birds, the vampire bats used to prefer the bird for their meal over the human being. But to great surprise, they now are found to be addicted to human blood, which is quite upsetting.
The research, published in the Journal Acta Chiropterologica also has raised concerns over the deforestation in their natural bio-network of northeastern Brazil.
