Abstract
We report an active surveillance study of the occurrence of specific antibodies to European Bat Lyssavirus Type 1 (EBLV-1) in bat species, scarcely studied hitherto, that share the same refuge. From 2004 to 2012, 406 sera were obtained from nine bat species. Blood samples were subjected to a modified fluorescent antibody virus neutralization test to determine the antibody titer. EBLV-1-neutralizing antibodies were detected in six of the nine species analyzed (Pipistrellus pipistrellus, P. kuhlii, Hypsugo savii, Plecotus austriacus, Eptesicus serotinus and Tadarida teniotis). Among all bats sampled, female seroprevalence (20.21%, 95% CI: 14.78%–26.57%) was not significantly higher than the seroprevalence in males (15.02%, 95% CI: 10.51%–20.54%). The results showed that the inter-annual variation in the number of seropositive bats in T. teniotis and P. austriacus showed a peak in 2007 (>70% of EBLV-1 prevalence). However, significant differences were observed in the temporal patterns of the seroprevalence modeling of T. teniotis and P. austriacus. The behavioral ecology of these species involved could explain the different annual fluctuations in EBLV-1 seroprevalence.
Highlights
Wildlife plays a key role in emerging infectious diseases by providing a ―zoonotic pool‖ from which pathogens may emerge [1]
We report the results of the prevalence of specific European Bat Lyssavirus Type 1 (EBLV-1) neutralizing antibody analysis from the 2004–2012 period in nine bat species roosting in the same refuge
To advance our understanding of the ecology of bat lyssavirus, we report the results of specific EBLV-1 neutralizing antibody analysis in nine bat species roosting in the San Pedro de los Griegos pothole
Summary
Wildlife plays a key role in emerging infectious diseases by providing a ―zoonotic pool‖ from which pathogens may emerge [1]. Bats have been implicated in numerous emerging infectious disease events and have been recognized as important reservoir hosts for viruses that can cross the species barrier to infect humans and other domestic and wild mammals [3]. Bats have the potential to rapidly and widely spread viruses (having a high mobility, they are the only mammals capable of flight) They have a long lifespan and a high survival rate, and many bat species have a gregarious behavior. Seasonality in temperate zone bats includes birthing periods, migration, gregarious behavior and torpor. Each of these strategies may affect population density, contact rates and immune response, leading to spatiotemporal variation in infection dynamics [8,9]
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