[DiogenesKynikos]

On the positive side, the focus on bats has led to a lot of research into their genomics. For example:

* "Comparative Analysis of Bat Genomes Provides Insight into the Evolution of Flight and Immunity": https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1230835

Bats are believed to be the reservoir species for a number of nasty viruses, though. As the abstract of the above paper says, bats are the "reservoir hosts for some of the world's most highly pathogenic viruses, including Nipah, Hendra, Ebola, and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)."

I haven't heard any virologists who study bats call for the eradication of bats. In fact, the Ecohealth Alliance, which coordinates a lot of the fieldwork to gather data on viruses in bat populations, says that conservation measures would help reduce the risk of spillover.