Researchers at the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) have uncovered a unique ability in bats which allows them to carry lethal diseases but not become sick.
The discovery could help stop the spread of diseases such as Ebola, SARS and the Nipah virus in humans.
For infectious-disease researchers, bats are among some of the world's most perplexing carriers of lethal viruses.
More than a hundred viruses, including Ebola, Hendra, Marbug and SARS, have all been traced to bats.
But they can carry and transmit viruses without becoming sick or showing symptoms.
That is because their immune systems remain switched on constantly - a finding scientists believe could hold the key to protecting people from deadly diseases.
A new study by the CSIRO has found bats have only a fraction of the number of interfurons, integral for promoting an immune response against viruses, which humans have.
However, despite that, bats still have a stronger immune system.
A bat immunologist at the CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Dr Michelle Baker, led the study.
