O,.o circa 2018.

Bats’ extraordinary super-immunity long has fascinated virologists.

The U.S. military has a long history of enlisting the help of animals in warfare. The bottlenose dolphin’s sophisticated bio sonar enabled the Navy to detect and clear underwater bombs during the Iraq War, and homing pigeons played a vital role as secret messengers during both world wars, with some awarded medals for bravery.

But there is one animal the military has had significantly less success in conscripting, and that is the bat.