Abstract
Bat research networks and viral surveillance are assumed to be at odds due to seemingly conflicting research priorities. Yet human threats that contribute to declines in bat populations globally also lead to increased transmission and spread of bat-associated viruses, which may pose a threat to global health and food security. In this review, we discuss the importance of and opportunities for multidisciplinary collaborations between bat research networks and infectious disease experts to tackle shared threats that jeopardize bat conservation as well as human and animal health. Moreover, we assess research effort on bats and bat-associated viruses globally, and demonstrate that Western Asia has limited published research and represents a gap for coordinated bat research. The lack of bat research in Western Asia severely limits our capacity to identify and mitigate region-specific threats to bat populations and detect interactions between bats and incidental hosts that promote virus spillover. We detail a regional initiative to establish the first bat research network in Western Asia (i.e., the Western Asia Bat Research Network, WAB-Net), with the aim of integrating ecological research on bats with virus surveillance to find “win-win” solutions that promote bat conservation and safeguard public and animal health across the region.
Highlights
Bats are ecologically and taxonomically diverse mammals with over 1300 species distributed globally and serve as a model taxonomic group for ecological and evolutionary research [1]
We summarize the current knowledge of bats as reservoirs for zoonotic viruses that jeopardize public health and food security, yet are threatened by a multitude of human activities that alter host–virus dynamics
Through literature searches based on key terms in PubMed, we demonstrate that research on bats and bat-associated viruses is highly fragmented across the region, and severely limited in most countries
Summary
Bats are ecologically and taxonomically diverse mammals with over 1300 species distributed globally and serve as a model taxonomic group for ecological and evolutionary research [1]. Rapid modification of the environment and human encroachment promotes interactions between humans, domestic animals, and wildlife species, facilitating disease spillover and presenting a challenge to global health and food security in addition to wildlife conservation [18]. These shared drivers of disease emergence and biodiversity loss are increasingly recognized as warranting a coordinated approach to monitor, detect, and mitigate changes in ecological conditions that may result in increased disease risk [19]. We discuss the importance of collaboration between bat research networks and virus surveillance initiatives to understand the role of human activities in the transmission and spread of bat-associated viruses. Solutions that promote bat conservation and safeguard public and animal health across the region
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