Abstract
Bats are one of the most important reservoirs and vectors of the rabies virus in the world. From 1988 to 2003, the Zoonosis Control Center in São Paulo City performed rabies diagnosis on 5,670 bats by direct immunofluorescent test and mouse inoculation test. Blood samples were collected from 1,618 bats and the sera were analyzed using the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test to confirm rabies antibodies. Forty-four (0.8%) bats were positive for rabies. The prevalence of rabies antibodies was 5.9% using 0.5IU/ml as a cutoff. Insectivorous bats (69.8%) and bats of the species Molossus molossus (51.8%) constituted the majority of the sample; however, the highest prevalence of antibodies were observed in Glossophaga soricina (14/133), Histiotus velatus (16/60), Desmodus rotundus (8/66), Artibeus lituratus (5/54), Nyctinomops macrotis (3/23), Tadarida brasiliensis (3/48), Carollia perspicillata (3/9), Eumops auripendulus (2/30), Nyctinomops laticaudatus (2/16), Sturnira lilium (2/17) and Eumops perotis (1/13). The prevalence of rabies antibodies was analyzed by species, food preference and sex. The expressive levels of antibodies associated with the low virus positivity verified in these bats indicate that rabies virus circulates actively among them.
Highlights
Bats are one of the most important reservoirs and vectors of the rabies virus in the world
Diagnosis was performed on the brain of 5,670 bats by fluorescent antibody test (FAT)[7] and mouse inoculation test (MIT)[8]
Blood was collected by cardiac punction of the bats and the sera were analyzed for rabies virus neutralizing antibody (VNA) using the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test (RFFIT)[9]
Summary
Bats are one of the most important reservoirs and vectors of the rabies virus in the world. There have been frequent case reports of rabies in bats, which are one of the main virus reservoirs in many countries around the world[1]. Several reports have confirmed the rabies virus in both hematophagous and nonhematophagous bats; the former are responsible for rabies outbreaks in Latin America[2] and the latter for sporadic rabies transmission to humans[3,4]. Data from the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO)[5] revealed 678 reported cases of battransmitted human rabies in Latin America from 1990 to 2010. In Brazil, between 2001 and 2010, 1,305 cases of rabies in bats were notified, 815 (62.5%) involving nonhematophagous bats, 303 (23.2%) in hematophagous bats and in 187 (14.3%) bats, identification of the species was not confirmed[5]. The rabies virus has already been isolated in 41 of the 172 species that live in Brazil[6]
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