Yet another reason to dislike bats

Everyone, er, uh, almost everyone knows not to touch bats, right?  Well, just in case you were reconsidering this tip for a healthier and longer life, a recent article brings to light yet another reason to beware of bats, This time from an infectious disease standpoint. 

Ebola outbreaks have become more frequent and of higher profile world-wide in the last 10 years or so – with outbreaks largely limited to Africa.  Since Ebola was initially characterized, several different species were identified: Zaire, Bundibugyo, etc…

Although a reservoir has never been conclusively established, fruit bats in Africa are thought to be the reservoir for Ebola. Ebola reston was also identified with circulation seemingly limited to the Philippine, except for that one time that the monkey got out in Virginia. Thankfully, that was contained. Hollywood later made a movie about it that starred Dustin Hoffman and Rene Russo.

A recent article published in PLoS describes serological evidence that two species of bat and humans in India have been exposed to filoviruses, including Ebola and Marburg. 

There is zero history of Ebola in India. So, how do the bats and people have antibodies to these viruses?  Especially when no genomic material was detected when the bat tissues were analyzed.  The authors offer several logical reasons for this including, “…small sample size, low virus copy numbers, uncertain epidemiological shedding periodicity, and high filovirus genetic diversity that is not captured by the primers employed here.” 

So, why is this article of interest?  For those of us interested in keeping up with where the next global epidemic might originate, this data indicates a real solid need for more consistent zoonotic disease surveillance at the human-animal interface in areas of the world where such interfaces routinely occur with species such as bats.  If you and your buddies feel the need to live on the edge, feel free to hang out with bats from India, Africa, Indiana, or wherever, as for me, I will decline!

 Read the article by clicking on the link below:

Filovirus-reactive antibodies in humans and bats in Northeast India imply zoonotic spillover