Species Of Fruit Bats Research Articles

Extracellular matrix composition of different spleen compartments of fruit bats.

The distribution and composition of extracellular matrix (ECM) of the spleen in two species of fruit bats, namely Cynopterus titthaecheilus and Rousettus leschenaultii, were examined by histochemistry and immunohistochemistry. Reticular fibres accompanied by laminin were identified to make up the splenic stromal network. Types I and III collagen were identified in various spleen compartments with varying intensities. Thin and short elastin fibres were scattered in several parts of the spleen. Visualization of the ECM of the spleen can better demonstrate spleen compartmentalization. The alleged vascular space structure in the fruit bats spleen was the sinus structure that was strengthened by the presence of reticular fibres that limit the sinus basement membrane. The present study identified periellipsoidal lymphoid sheath (PELS)-like structure in fruit bats spleen that had never been identified in mammals before. In addition to describing the structure, this study highlighted the variations in ECM composition of the spleen between species that can provide new insight into the phylogenetic study of spleen morphology.

Difference in glucose tolerance between phytophagous and insectivorous bats.

Bats are mostly insectivorous or phytophagous. It is hypothesized that bats are evolved from small insectivorous mammals. Therefore, the digestive and metabolic systems of phytophagous and insectivorous bats must have evolved differently to adapt to their dietary habits. To investigate the difference in sugar tolerance in bats, we determined changes in blood glucose levels after intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of glucose in three species of phytophagous and four species of insectivorous bats under resting conditions. Results showed that phytophagous bats eliminated blood glucose faster than insectivorous bats. All three species of fruit bats reduced blood glucose to fasting levels within 30-45min, whereas all insectivorous bats failed to lower blood glucose to fasting levels even 120min after i.p. glucose injection. Taken together, results of this study suggest that bats have undergone adaptations and become diversified in dietary habits.

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

Bats are reservoirs for several zoonotic pathogens, including filoviruses. Recent work highlights the diversity of bat borne filoviruses in Asia. High risk activities at the bat-human interface pose the threat of zoonotic virus transmission. We present evidence for prior exposure of bat harvesters and two resident fruit bat species to filovirus surface glycoproteins by screening sera in a multiplexed serological assay. Antibodies reactive to two antigenically distinct filoviruses were detected in human sera and to three individual filoviruses in bats in remote Northeast India. Sera obtained from Eonycteris spelaea bats showed similar patterns of cross-reactivity as human samples, suggesting them as the species responsible for the spillover. In contrast, sera from Rousettus leschenaultii bats reacted to two different virus glycoproteins. Our results indicate circulation of several filoviruses in bats and the possibility for filovirus transmission from bats to humans.

Human activities link fruit bat presence to Ebola virus disease outbreaks

Abstract A significant link between forest loss and fragmentation and outbreaks of Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans has been documented. Deforestation may alter the natural circulation of viruses and change the composition, abundance, behaviour and possibly viral exposure of reservoir species. This in turn might increase contact between infected animals and humans. Fruit bats of the family Pteropodidae have been suspected as reservoirs of the Ebola virus. At present, the only evidence associating fruit bats with EVD is the presence of seropositive individuals in eight species and polymerase chain reaction‐positive individuals in three of these. Our study investigates whether human activities can increase African fruit bat geographical ranges and whether this influence overlaps geographically with EVD outbreaks that, in turn, are favoured by deforestation. We use species observation records for the 20 fruit bat species found in favourable areas for the Ebola virus to determine factors affecting the bats' range inside the predicted Ebola virus area. We do this by employing a hypothetico‐deductive approach based on favourability modelling. We show that the range of some fruit bat species is linked to human activities within the favourable areas for the Ebola virus. More specifically, the areas where human activities favour the presence of five fruit bat species overlap with the areas where EVD outbreaks in humans were themselves favoured by deforestation. These five species are as follows: Eidolon helvum, Epomops franqueti, Megaloglossus woermanni, Micropteropus pusillus and Rousettus aegyptiacus. Of these five, all but Megaloglossus woermanni have recorded seropositive individuals. For the remaining 15 bat species, we found no biogeographical support for the hypothesis that positive human influence on fruit bats could be associated with EVD outbreaks in deforested areas within the tropical forest biome in West and Central Africa. Our work is a useful first step allowing further investigation of the networks and pathways that may lead to an EVD outbreak. The modelling framework we employ here can be used for other emerging infectious diseases.

Lek-associated movement of a putative Ebolavirus reservoir, the hammer-headed fruit bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus), in northern Republic of Congo.

The biology and ecology of Africa’s largest fruit bat remains largely understudied and enigmatic despite at least two highly unusual attributes. The acoustic lek mating behavior of the hammer-headed bat (Hypsignathus monstrosus) in the Congo basin was first described in the 1970s. More recently molecular testing implicated this species and other African bats as potential reservoir hosts for Ebola virus and it was one of only two fruit bat species epidemiologically linked to the 2008 Luebo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ebola outbreak. Here we share findings from the first pilot study of hammer-headed bat movement using GPS tracking and accelerometry units and a small preceding radio-tracking trial at an apparent lekking site. The radio-tracking revealed adult males had high rates of nightly visitation to the site compared to females (only one visit) and that two of six females day-roosted ~100 m west of Libonga, the nearest village that is ~1.6 km southwest. Four months later, in mid-April 2018, five individual bats, comprised of four males and one female, were tracked from two to 306 days, collecting from 67 to 1022 GPS locations. As measured by mean distance to the site and proportion of nightly GPS locations within 1 km of the site (percent visitation), the males were much more closely associated with the site (mean distance 1.4 km; 51% visitation), than the female (mean 5.5 km; 2.2% visitation). Despite the small sample size, our tracking evidence supports our original characterization of the site as a lek, and the lek itself is much more central to male than female movement. Moreover, our pilot demonstrates the technical feasibility of executing future studies on hammer-headed bats that will help fill problematic knowledge gaps about zoonotic spillover risks and the conservation needs of fruit bats across the continent.

The relative influence of abiotic and biotic factors on suitable habitat of Old World fruit bats under current and future climate scenarios

There is growing evidence that biotic factors such as predator-prey interactions play significant roles in driving species distribution across large spatial scales. The relative influence of abiotic and biotic factors on species distribution, however, may change under climate change. We investigated the relative influence of abiotic and biotic variables on the potential current and future distributions of three fruit bat species, Epomophorus angolensis (Gray, 1870), E. wahlbergi (Sundevall, 1846) and Rousettus aegyptiacus (E. Geoffroy St.-Hilaire, 1810), in southern Africa. We tested three hypotheses, namely that bat species’ distribution is primarily driven by (1) productivity; (2) physiological tolerance to climate; and (3) biotic interactions, specifically fig distribution. We adopted an ensemble niche modelling approach to project the suitable habitat of fruit bat species for current and future climate scenarios, and assessed variable importance in the models using a randomised variable shuffle procedure. We predicted that both biotic and abiotic factors influence suitable habitat of fruit bats, the relative influence of factors on habitat suitability of bat species are taxon specific, and the relative influence of abiotic and biotic factors will change from current to future climate scenarios. Abiotic variables associated with productivity were the primary determinants of habitat suitability for E. wahlbergi and E. angolensis under both current and future conditions. By contrast, suitable habitat of R. aegyptiacus was primarily mediated by temperature under current climatic conditions yet by freestanding fig distribution under both moderate and extreme future climate change scenarios. Freestanding fig distribution was also the most significant factor of habitat suitability for E. angolensis under the extreme future climate change scenario. Our results were congruent with our predictions and suggest that biotic variables play important roles in determining habitat suitability of species at relatively large spatial scales, contrary to the conventional assumptions of the Grinnellian niche.

Dietary resource overlap among three species of frugivorous bat in Costa Rica

AbstractThe maintenance of biodiversity in tropical forests is thought to be dependent on fine-scale mechanisms of niche partitioning that allow species to coexist. This study examined whether three species of short-tailed fruit bat that co-occur at a lowland tropical forest site in Costa Rica (Carollia castanea,C. perspicillata,C. sowelli) avoid inter- and intraspecific competition through dietary specialization on species in the genusPiper. First, dietary composition was examined using faecal samples (N = 210), which yielded three main findings: (1) bat species and sexes vary in overall reliance on fruits ofPiper, with a higher percentage of seeds ofPiperdetected in the diets ofC. castanea(98.2%) and females (91.5%); (2) adults and juveniles partition species ofPiperby habitat, with a lower percentage of mid- to late-successional species ofPiperdetected in adults (20.8%); and (3) overall, there is a strong dietary overlap among and within the three species ofCarollia. Second, controlled choice experiments were conducted with individual bats (N = 123) to examine preferences for different species ofPiper. These results indicated few differences inPiperpreference based on bat species, sex, age class or reproductive status, suggesting preference is not the primary mechanism shaping the observed differences in dietary composition. Overall, the dietary composition and preference similarities suggest there is strong competition both among and within the three species ofCarolliafor food resources.

Seasonal variation in food availability and relative importance of dietary items in the Gambian epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus gambianus).

The Gambian epauletted fruit bat (Epomophorus gambianus) is very common across a variety of West African habitats, but very little information is available on its feeding ecology or its contribution to ecosystem function.We investigated seasonal variation in food availability and the relative importance of dietary items used by this species in a forest‐savannah transitional ecosystem. Dietary items were identified from 1,470 samples of fecal and ejecta pellets which had been collected under day roosts or from captured bats over a 2‐year period (2014–2015).Plant phenology studies illustrated strong seasonal correlations between fruiting and flowering and rainfall patterns: Fruits were available throughout the year but with peaks of abundance during the rainy season, while flowers were mostly abundant during the dry season. Epomophorus gambianus bats utilized fruit and flower resources from 30 plant species. Although the plant species used depended on seasonal availability, there were clear preferences for certain species.Flowers were an important food source for this fruit bat species especially during the dry season, contributing up to 79% of dietary items when fruit abundance was low. Ficus fruits were also important food item for E. gambianus, constituting over 40% of all dietary samples identified. Policy implications. Our results show the importance of flowers in the diet of E. gambianus and highlight this species as an important pollinator and seed disperser, including for economically and ecologically important plant species. These findings contribute to an improved understanding of the ecological importance and potential role of this species in the forest‐savannah transition ecosystem for the development of fruit bat conservation management strategies.

Disentangling serology to elucidate henipa- and filovirus transmission in Madagascar fruit bats.

Bats are reservoirs for emerging human pathogens, including Hendra and Nipah henipaviruses and Ebola and Marburg filoviruses. These viruses demonstrate predictable patterns in seasonality and age structure across multiple systems; previous work suggests that they may circulate in Madagascar's endemic fruit bats, which are widely consumed as human food.We aimed to (a) document the extent of henipa‐ and filovirus exposure among Malagasy fruit bats, (b) explore seasonality in seroprevalence and serostatus in these bat populations and (c) compare mechanistic hypotheses for possible transmission dynamics underlying these data.To this end, we amassed and analysed a unique dataset documenting longitudinal serological henipa‐ and filovirus dynamics in three Madagascar fruit bat species.We uncovered serological evidence of exposure to Hendra‐/Nipah‐related henipaviruses in Eidolon dupreanum, Pteropus rufus and Rousettus madagascariensis, to Cedar‐related henipaviruses in E. dupreanum and R. madagascariensis and to Ebola‐related filoviruses in P. rufus and R. madagascariensis. We demonstrated significant seasonality in population‐level seroprevalence and individual serostatus for multiple viruses across these species, linked to the female reproductive calendar. An age‐structured subset of the data highlighted evidence of waning maternal antibodies in neonates, increasing seroprevalence in young and decreasing seroprevalence late in life. Comparison of mechanistic epidemiological models fit to these data offered support for transmission hypotheses permitting waning antibodies but retained immunity in adult‐age bats.Our findings suggest that bats may seasonally modulate mechanisms of pathogen control, with consequences for population‐level transmission. Additionally, we narrow the field of candidate transmission hypotheses by which bats are presumed to host and transmit potentially zoonotic viruses globally.

Population trends for two Malagasy fruit bats

Madagascar is home to three endemic species of Old World Fruit Bat, which are important pollinators and seed dispersers. We aimed to quantitatively assess population trajectories for the two largest of these species, the IUCN-listed ‘Vulnerable’ Eidolon dupreanum and Pteropus rufus. To this end, we conducted a longitudinal field study, in which we live-captured E. dupreanum and P. rufus, estimated species-specific fecundity rates, and generated age-frequency data via histological analysis of cementum annuli layering in tooth samples extracted from a subset of individuals. We fit exponential models to resulting data to estimate annual survival probabilities for adult bats (sA = .794 for E. dupreanum; sA = .511 for P. rufus), then applied Lefkovitch modeling techniques to infer the minimum required juvenile survival rate needed to permit longterm population persistence. Given estimated adult survival, population persistence was only possible for E. dupreanum when field-based fecundity estimates were replaced by higher values reported in the literature for related species. For P. rufus, tooth-derived estimates of adult survival were so low that even assumptions of perfect (100%) juvenile annual survival would not permit stable population trajectories. Age-based survival analyses were further supported by longitudinal exit counts carried out from 2013 to 2018 at three local P. rufus roost sites, which demonstrated a statistically significant, faintly negative time trend, indicative of subtle regional population declines. These results suggest that Malagasy fruit bat species face significant threats to population viability, with P. rufus particularly imperiled. Immediate conservation interventions, including habitat restoration and cessation of legally sanctioned bat hunting, are needed to protect Madagascar's fruit bats into the future.

Flight patterns in zoo‐housed fruit bats (Pteropus spp.)

Maintaining the capacity for sustained flight in captivity is a key goal for the management of threatened fruit bats. We developed quantifiable descriptions of flight complexity and used them to assess the suitability of an enclosure for two species of fruit bat of differing size, the large Livingstone's fruit bat, Pteropus livingstonii, and the smaller Rodrigues fruit bat, Pteropus rodricensis, in a two-part study. In Phase 1, Rodrigues fruit bats flew more often than Livingstone's fruit bats and although the majority of flights in both species were linear, Rodrigues fruit bats were more likely to display complex flight paths involving turns, while flights by Livingstone's fruit bats were more likely to end in a crash-landing than Rodrigues fruit bat flights. The enclosure may therefore not have been large enough for Livingstone's fruit bats to display a full range of flight behavior over longer distances. In Phase 2, juvenile Livingstone's fruit bats ( < 3 years old) flew more than twice as often as younger adults (3-10 years old) did. Older adult Livingstone's fruit bats over the age of 10 years were not observed to fly. We could not separate out the effects of age, weight and environment during development as these factors were strongly correlated in our study; future work in this area will be very important in understanding the factors that affect flight in captive bats, and how it can be encouraged by appropriate enclosure design.

Bats as reservoirs of antibiotic resistance determinants: A survey of class 1 integrons in Grey-headed Flying Foxes (Pteropus poliocephalus)

Increasing reports of antimicrobial resistance in wildlife highlight the significance of a One Health approach to managing resistance. We investigated the prevalence and diversity of class 1 integrons, a genetic determinant of resistance, in grey-headed flying foxes, a large fruit bat species belonging to the order Chiroptera. Class 1 integrons were detected in both wild flying foxes (5.3%) and captive flying foxes (41.2%) housed in wildlife rehabilitation facilities. Genes encoding resistance to aminoglycosides, trimethoprim and beta-lactams, and Qac efflux pumps were detected. Analysis of conserved integron elements and gene cassette arrays indicate the direction of integron transfer is from humans to flying foxes. The detection of two novel gene cassette arrays (5′CS-qacH-aacA34-blaOXA-21-3′CS and 5′CS-qacF-3′CS strongly suggests acquisition of genes from the environmental resistome into class 1 integrons within the flying fox microbiota. The dynamics of class 1 integrons in flying foxes indicates bats have a role in the emergence of novel antibiotic resistance determinants.

Studying the microbiota of bats: Accuracy of direct and indirect samplings.

Given the recurrent bat‐associated disease outbreaks in humans and recent advances in metagenomics sequencing, the microbiota of bats is increasingly being studied. However, obtaining biological samples directly from wild individuals may represent a challenge, and thus, indirect passive sampling (without capturing bats) is sometimes used as an alternative. Currently, it is not known whether the bacterial community assessed using this approach provides an accurate representation of the bat microbiota. This study was designed to compare the use of direct sampling (based on bat capture and handling) and indirect sampling (collection of bat's excretions under bat colonies) in assessing bacterial communities in bats. Using high‐throughput 16S rRNA sequencing of urine and feces samples from Rousettus aegyptiacus, a cave‐dwelling fruit bat species, we found evidence of niche specialization among different excreta samples, independent of the sampling approach. However, sampling approach influenced both the alpha‐ and beta‐diversity of urinary and fecal microbiotas. In particular, increased alpha‐diversity and more overlapping composition between urine and feces samples was seen when direct sampling was used, suggesting that cross‐contamination may occur when collecting samples directly from bats in hand. In contrast, results from indirect sampling in the cave may be biased by environmental contamination. Our methodological comparison suggested some influence of the sampling approach on the bat‐associated microbiota, but both approaches were able to capture differences among excreta samples. Assessment of these techniques opens an avenue to use more indirect sampling, in order to explore microbial community dynamics in bats.

The contrasting genetic patterns of two sympatric flying fox species from the Comoros and the implications for conservation

Pteropus livingstonii and Pteropus seychellensis comorensis are endemic fruit bat species that are among the most threatened animals in the Comoros archipelago. Both species are pollinators and seed dispersers of native and cultivated plants and are thus of crucial importance for the regeneration of natural forests as well as for cultivated plantations. However, these species are subject to strong anthropogenic pressures and face one of the highest rates of natural habitat loss reported worldwide. Yet little is known about the population genetic structure of these two species, making it difficult to define relevant conservation strategies. In this study, we investigated for the two flying fox species (1) the level of genetic diversity within islands, as well as across the archipelago and (2) the genetic structure between the two islands (Anjouan and Moheli) for P. livingstonii and between the four islands of the archipelago (Anjouan, Moheli, Grande Comore and Mayotte) for P. s. comorensis using mitochondrial and microsatellite markers. The results revealed contrasting patterns of genetic structure, with P. s. comorensis showing low genetic structure between islands, whereas P. livingstonii exhibited high levels of inter-island genetic differentiation. Overall, the genetic analyses showed low genetic diversity for both species. These contrasting genetic patterns may be the result of different dispersal patterns and the populations’ evolutionary histories. Our findings lead us to suggest that in terms of conservation strategy, the two populations of P. livingstonii (on Anjouan and Moheli islands) should be considered as two separate management units. We recommend focusing conservation efforts on the Anjouan population, which is the largest, exhibits the highest genetic diversity, and suffers the greatest anthropogenic pressure. As for P. s. comorensis, its four populations could be considered as a single unit for conservation management purposes. For this species, we recommend protecting roosting trees to reduce population disturbance.

Roost of Gray Flying Foxes (Pteropus griseus) in Indonesia and Records of a New Hunting Threat

Pteropus griseus (gray flying fox) is a species of Old World fruit bat that is listed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as Data Deficient. The species is found on small islands in the Lesser Sundas and Sulawesi, and is endemic to Indonesia, but no contemporary roosts are known, and the last study of the species was in Timor in the Lesser Sundas. In this study, we describe the first known day roost in Sulawesi for Pteropus griseus and collected anecdotal evidence regarding conservation threats to the colony. We compared data from flying foxes collected from this roost to other P. griseus specimens and those of closely related co-occurring species to confirm its identity. We confirmed that this roost is likely of Pteropus griseus, though the subspecies identity remains to be determined. However, it is newly threatened by middlemen traders of bat meat from North Sulawesi arriving to encourage local villagers near the roost to hunt the bats. Elevated levels of hunting may deplete the entire colony in a single season should no conservation action be taken to safeguard the roost.

Identification of group A rotaviruses from Zambian fruit bats provides evidence for long-distance dispersal events in Africa

Group A rotavirus (RVA) is a major cause of diarrhea in children worldwide. Although RVA infects many animals, little is known about RVA in bats. The present study investigated the genetic diversity of RVA in Zambian bats. We identified RVA from two straw-colored fruit bats (Eidolon helvum) and an Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus), and analyzed the genome sequences of these strains. Genome segments of the RVA strains from Zambian E. helvum showed 97%–99% nucleotide sequence identity with those of other RVA strains from E. helvum in Cameroon, which is 2800 km from the sampling locations. These findings suggest that migratory straw-colored fruit bat species, distributed across sub-Saharan Africa, have the potential to disseminate RVA across long distances. By contrast, the RVA strain from Zambian R. aegyptiacus carried highly divergent NSP2 and NSP4 genes, leading us to propose novel genotypes N21 and E27, respectively. Notably, this RVA strain also shared the same genotype for VP6 and NSP3 with the RVA strains from Zambian E. helvum, suggesting interspecies transmission and genetic reassortment may have occurred between these two bat species in the past. Our study has important implications for RVA dispersal in bat populations, and expands our knowledge of the ecology, diversity and evolutionary relationships of RVA.

Pliocene bats (Chiroptera) from Kanapoi, Turkana Basin, Kenya

Fossil bats from the Pliocene of Africa are extremely rare, especially in East Africa where meager records have been reported only from two localities in the Omo River Basin Shungura Formation and from a scattering of localities in the Afar Depression, both in Ethiopia. Here we report on a diverse assemblage of bats from Kanapoi in the Turkana Basin that date to approximately 4.19 million years ago. The Kanapoi bat community consists of four different species of fruit bats including a new genus and two new species as well as five species of echolocating bats, the most common of which are two new species of the molossid genus Mops. Additionally, among the echolocating bats, a new species of the emballonurid Saccolaimus is documented at Kanapoi along with an additional Saccolaimus species and a potentially new species of the nycterid Nycteris. Compared to other East African Pliocene bat assemblages, the Kanapoi bat community is unique in preserving molossids and curiously lacks any evidence of cave dwelling bats like rhinolophids or hipposiderids, which are both common at other East African sites. The bats making up the Kanapoi community all typically roost in trees, with some preferring deeper forests and larger trees (molossids), while the others (pteropodids, nycterids and emballonurids) roost in trees near open areas. Living fruit bats that are related to Kanapoi species typically forage for fruits along the margins of forests and in open savannah. The echolocating forms from Kanapoi consist of groups that aerially hawk for insects in open areas between patches of forest and along water courses. The habitats preferred by living relatives of the Kanapoi bats are in agreement with those constructed for Kanapoi based on other lines of evidence.

Serological evidence of widespread exposure of Grenada fruit bats to chikungunya virus.

SummaryAntibody detection against selected potentially zoonotic vector‐borne alphaviruses and flaviviruses was conducted on sera from bats from all six parishes in Grenada, West Indies. Sera were tested for (i) antibodies to flaviviruses West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, Ilhéus virus, Bussuquara virus (BSQV), Rio Bravo virus and all four serotypes of dengue virus (DENV) by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT); (ii) antibodies to alphaviruses western equine encephalitis virus, Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus and eastern equine encephalitis virus by epitope‐blocking enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA); and (iii) antibodies to the alphavirus chikungunya (CHIKV) by PRNT. Two species of fruit bats were sampled, Artibeus jamaicensis and Artibeus lituratus, all roosting in or within 1,000 m of human settlements. Fifteen (36%) of the 42 bats tested for neutralizing antibodies to CHIKV were positive. The CHIKV‐seropositive bats lived in localities spanning five of the six parishes. All 43 bats tested for epitope‐blocking ELISA antibody to the other alphaviruses were negative, except one positive for Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus. All 50 bats tested for neutralizing antibody to flaviviruses were negative, except one that had a BSQV PRNT 80 titre of 20. The CHIKV serology results indicate that bats living close to and within human settlements were exposed to CHIKV in multiple locations. Importantly, bats for this study were trapped a year after the introduction and peak of the human CHIKV epidemic in Grenada. Thus, our data indicate that bats were exposed to CHIKV possibly during a time of marked decline in human cases.

Lagos bat virus infection study

Introduction: bats are reservoirs for many emerging and neglected zoonotic viruses, including rabies virus, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) like coronavirus, henipavirus and filovirus. Several species of fruit bats are reservoir hosts for Lagos Bat Virus (LBV) with spillover infections documented in dogs, cats and mongoose. The impact of bat lyssavirus in Africa is unknown. investigations of the dynamics of zoonotic viruses in wild bats in Ghana identified lyssaviruses (LBV), henipaviruses and filoviruses (Ebola) as zoonotic infections of fruits bats in Ghana. LBV has not been well studied and its risk for human and animals uncertain. We hypothesized that the inoculation of LBV can cause clinical disease in E. helvum.

Assessment of listing and categorisation of animal diseases within the framework of the Animal Health Law (Regulation (EU) No 2016/429): Ebola virus disease.

Ebola virus disease has been assessed according to the criteria of the Animal Health Law (AHL), in particular criteria of Article 7 on disease profile and impacts, Article 5 on the eligibility of Ebola virus disease to be listed, Article 9 for the categorisation of Ebola virus disease according to disease prevention and control rules as in Annex IV and Article 8 on the list of animal species related to Ebola virus disease. The assessment has been performed following a methodology composed of information collection and compilation, expert judgement on each criterion at individual and, if no consensus was reached before, also at collective level. The output is composed of the categorical answer, and for the questions where no consensus was reached, the different supporting views are reported. Details on the methodology used for this assessment are explained in a separate opinion. According to the assessment performed, Ebola virus disease can be considered eligible to be listed for Union intervention as laid down in Article 5(3) of the AHL. The disease would comply with the criteria as in Sections 4 and 5 of Annex IV of the AHL, for the application of the disease prevention and control rules referred to in points (d) and (e) of Article 9(1). The animal species to be listed for Ebola virus disease according to Article 8(3) criteria are some species of non‐human primates, pigs and rodents as susceptible species and some species of fruit bats as reservoir, as indicated in the present opinion.