Bats, viruses, emerging diseases and humans

Bats: important reservoir hosts of emerging viruses.

Bats (order Chiroptera, suborders Megachiroptera ["flying foxes"] and Microchiroptera) are abundant, diverse, and geographically widespread. These mammals provide us with resources, but their importance is minimized and many of their populations and species are at risk, even threatened or endangered. Some of their characteristics (food choices, colonial or solitary nature, population structure,...

Bats, Emerging Diseases, and the Human Interface

The tragic death of a Dutch patient due to Duvenhage virus infection acquired after bat exposure in Kenya during 2007 emphasizes the potential dangers associated with ecotourism, underscores the role of Chiroptera as reservoirs of emerging infectious diseases, and highlights modern attempts to prevent and treat these zoonotic diseases. The patient in this incident, a physician from The Netherla...

Bats and zoonotic viruses: can we confidently link bats with emerging deadly viruses?

An increasingly asked question is 'can we confidently link bats with emerging viruses?'. No, or not yet, is the qualified answer based on the evidence available. Although more than 200 viruses - some of them deadly zoonotic viruses - have been isolated from or otherwise detected in bats, the supposed connections between bats, bat viruses and human diseases have been raised more on speculation t...

Emerging diseases in Chiroptera: why bats?

A conference entitled '2nd International Berlin Bat Meeting: Bat Biology and Infectious Diseases' was held between the 19 and 21 of February 2010 in Berlin, Germany. Researchers from two major disciplines, bat biologists and disease specialists, met for the first time in an interdisciplinary event to share their knowledge about bat-associated diseases. The focus of the meeting was to understand...

Emerging Viruses: The Evolution of Viruses and Viral Diseases

Recent recognition of bats as reservoir hosts of emerging viruses

149 Bats (order Chiroptera, suborders Megachiroptera (»flying foxes«) and Microchiroptera) are abundant, diverse, and have been found on all continents except Antarctica. Although bats provide us with certain resources and many feed on insects, many populations of bats are at risk, threatened or endangered. The characteristics of these mammals include particular diets, colonial or solitary natu...