Bats, emerging infectious diseases, and the rabies paradigm revisited

Abstract

The significance of bats as sources of emerging infectious diseases has been increasingly appreciated, and new data have been accumulated rapidly during recent years. For some emerging pathogens the bat origin has been confirmed (such as lyssaviruses, henipaviruses, coronaviruses), for other it has been suggested (filoviruses). Several recently identified viruses remain to be 'orphan' but have a potential for further emergence (such as Tioman, Menangle, and Pulau viruses). In the present review we summarize information on major bat-associated emerging infections and discuss specific characteristics of bats as carriers of pathogens (from evolutionary, ecological, and immunological positions). We also discuss drivers and forces of an infectious disease emergence and describe various existing and potential approaches for control and prevention of such infections at individual, populational, and societal levels.

Keywords: Chiroptera; bats; control; coronavirus; emerging infectious disease; filovirus; henipavirus; lyssavirus; prevention; rabies.

Fig. 1

Bat-associated and presumable bat-associated EIDs. Abbreviations: RABV,=rabies virus; EBLV-1,2=European bat lyssaviruses type 1 and 2; WCBV=West Caucasian bat virus; ARAV=Aravan virus; KHUV=Khujand virus; IRKV=Irkut virus; LBV=Lagos bat virus; SHIBV=Shimoni bat virus; DUVV=Duvenhage virus; MARV=Marburg virus; EBOV=Ebola virus; Filovirus=unclassified filovirus detected in bats in Europe; HeV=Hendra virus; NiV=Nipah virus; Henipavirus=unclassified henipavirus; SARS-CoV=SARS coronavirus.

Fig. 2

A dense colony of the Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus) in cave (Photo by Ivan V. Kuzmin).

Fig. 3

Diagram of primary and secondary drivers and management of bat-associated EIDs.

Fig. 4

Possible routes of disease transmission between bats, peridomestic/domestic animals, and humans. Thick arrows represent the most significant pathways for bat-associated EIDs. Thin arrows represent pathways about which less known or that are less common (as in the case of transmission of pathogens directly from bats to humans).