Bat and bat-borne hantaviruses

ABSTRACT

Hantaviruses are important pathogenes of natural focal diseases that causes hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome and Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome. According to the latest classification of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses, hantaviruses can be divided into 53 species, 7 genera, and 4 subfamilies. Hantaviruses are widely found in Rodentia, Chiroptera, and Insectivora, and later also found in reptile, Actinopterygii, and Agnatha. There are many species of bats, which are the second largest group of mammals in the world after rodents. At present, 1 446 species have been reported, accounting for about 22% of global mammals. In addition, bats have strong flight ability and are widely distributed in all continents except Antarctica. As the host animal of viruses, bats bear a variety of viruses, and many emerging infectious pathogens such as Marburg virus, Hendra virus, and Nipah virus have been confirmed to come from bats. Bats have also been associated to Ebola virus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. In recent decades, more and more bat-borne hantaviruses have been discovered. Bats and bat-borne hantaviruses have an important research value. Therefore, this paper reviews the latest classification of Hantavirus and bat-borne hantaviruses.