ABSTRACT
The wide geographical distribution and genetic diversity of bat-associated lyssaviruses (LYSVs) across Europe suggest that similar viruses may also be harboured in Italian insectivorous bats. Indeed, bats were first included within the passive national surveillance programme for rabies in wildlife in the 1980s, while active surveillance has been performed since 2008. The active surveillance strategies implemented allowed us to detect neutralizing antibodies directed towards European bat 1 lyssavirus in six out of the nine maternity colonies object of the study across the whole country. Seropositive bats were Myotis myotis, M. blythii and Tadarida teniotis. On the contrary, the virus was neither detected through passive nor active surveillance, suggesting that fatal neurological infection is rare also in seropositive colonies. Although the number of tested samples has steadily increased in recent years, submission turned out to be rather sporadic and did not include carcasses from bat species that account for the majority of LYSVs cases in Europe, such as Eptesicus serotinus, M. daubentonii, M. dasycneme and M. nattereri. A closer collaboration with bat handlers is therefore mandatory to improve passive surveillance and decrypt the significance of serological data obtained up to now.
ABSTRACT
Bats are important reservoir hosts of RNA viruses, including lyssaviruses, which can cross the species barrier to infect humans and other domestic and wild non-flying mammals. Six of the seven Lyssavirus genotypes described to date infect bats. In Europe, two genotypes of Lyssavirus, European bat Lyssavirus types 1 and 2 (EBLV-1 and EBLV-2), circulate among several bat species and numerous bats are found infected every year. To provide epidemiologists and public health officials with data to effectively implement public health measures, we have undertaken field studies to identify the temporal dynamics of virus infection in bat colonies by combining multidisciplinary approaches. We have focused our work on a long-term longitudinal survey of different bat colonies in the Balearic Islands. The prevalence of virus RNA and neutralizing antibodies were analysed in captured bats. The bats were banded to allow for individual monitoring of infection and movements between colonies. The results show different lyssavirus infection episodes across the twelve years of study and provide the first evidence that mortality of the mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis) in their natural environment does not increase significantly after episodes of EBLV-1 infection.
Subject(s)
Chiroptera/virology , Lyssavirus/classification , Public Health , Rhabdoviridae Infections/veterinary , Risk Assessment , Animals , Antibodies, Viral/blood , Disease Reservoirs/veterinary , Disease Reservoirs/virology , Female , Genotype , Humans , Lyssavirus/isolation & purification , Male , Rabies virus/classification , Rabies virus/isolation & purification , Rhabdoviridae Infections/epidemiology , Rhabdoviridae Infections/mortality , Sentinel Surveillance/veterinaryABSTRACT
Acarinia and nycteribidia zones of the bat species Miniopterus schreibersi Kuhl are studied in an area of northeast of Spain, where captures over a period of five years have been carried out. The species that characterize the mite-tick spectrum are Ixodes (Pomerantzevella) simplex, Macronyssus longimanus, Macronyssus granulosus and Spinturnix psi; nycteribidium is determined mainly by the presence of Nycteribia schmidlii. The life cycle, prevalence, curves of parasitation, and other notes on these most abundant ectoparasites are provided, as well as observations on other ticks, mites, and nycteribiid species found on this bat.
