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Bats are prominent hosts of zoonotic RNA viruses because of immunologic, physiologic, and ecologic factors (1). The Arenaviridae family comprises 4 genera: Reptarenavirus and Hartmanivirus, whose members infect reptiles; Antennavirus, [...]

Human betacoronaviruses are divided into 2 pathotypes: endemic viruses, such as human coronavirus OC43 (HCoV-OC43) and HCoV-HKUl, which cause mild respiratory symptoms (1), and highly pathogenic viruses comprising severe acute [...]

Bartonella, the causative agent of bartonellosis, is a genus of gram-negative bacteria. Bartonellosis causes a range of symptoms from severe to life-threatening (e.g., endocarditis and meningitis). Clinical syndromes from Bartonella [...]

Lyssaviruses cause fatal encephalitic disease in mammals; 6 viral species have been implicated in human deaths (1). Bats are the primary hosts for members of the Lyssavirus genus, which belongs [...]

Abstract: Two species of Leuconeurospora, Leuconeurospora capsici (J.F.H. Beyma) Malloch, Sigler & Hambleton and Leuconeurospora polypaeciloides Malloch, Sigler & Hambleton (Ascomycota: Pseudeurotiaceae), are reported from the fur and skin of [...]

Recent studies documented the potential transfer of microcystin, a hepatotoxin produced by some cyanobacteria, from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems. Using enzyme linked immunosorbent assay, we measured microcystins in emergent Hexagenia limbata mayflies and fecal samples collected from a maternity colony of little brown bats (Myotis lucifugas) located adjacent to a Michigan (U.S.A.) lake that experiences seasonal blooms of toxicogenic Microcystis aeruginosa. All H. limbata and M. luafugus fecal samples contained microcystin (H. limbata'. mean = 293.88 ng/g dw ± 35.99 SE, n = 39; M. lucifugus'. mean = 262.10 ng/g dw ± 31.08 se, n = 20). Ingestion of this toxin may represent a previously unrecognized stressor on bat populations in this region., INTRODUCTION Most North American bats are insectivorous (Hutson et at, 2001), and many are generalist and opportunistic feeders. For example Lee and McCracken (2005) documented significant differences in insect composition [...]

Invasion of novel wildlife diseases has caused widespread declines or species extinction among birds, amphibians, and mammals (1-4). White-nose syndrome (WNS), caused by the fungal pathogen Pseudogymnoascus destructans, is a [...]

To much of the world, the virus behind the devastating Ebola outbreak in Africa seems to have stormed out of nowhere. But Leslie Lobel thinks we should have seen it [...]

Human settlement in New Zealand is relatively recent compared with that of many countries and extends back ≅800 years to when early Polynesian explorers first arrived (1). A wide variety [...]

Studies of bats in China and Laos show southeast Asia is a hotspot for potentially dangerous viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2. Studies of bats in China and Laos show southeast Asia is a hotspot for potentially dangerous viruses similar to SARS-CoV-2., Author(s): Smriti Mallapaty Author Affiliations: Closest known relatives of virus behind COVID-19 found in Laos A Rhinolophus bat exits a cave at dusk in Perak, Malaysia. Credit: Fletcher & Baylis/SPL [...]

The 2002-3 pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV) was one of the most significant public health events in recent history (1). An ongoing outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (2) suggests that this group of viruses remains a key threat and that their distribution is wider than previously recognized. Although bats have been suggested to be the natural reservoirs of both viruses (3-5), attempts to isolate the progenitor virus of SARS-CoV from bats have been unsuccessful. Diverse SARS-like coronaviruses (SL-CoVs) have now been reported from bats in China, Europe and Africa (5-8), but none is considered a direct progenitor of SARS-CoV because of their phylogenetic disparity from this virus and the inability of their spike proteins to use the SARS-CoV cellular receptor molecule, the human angiotensin converting enzyme II (ACE2) (9,10). Here we report whole-genome sequences of two novel bat coronaviruses from Chinese horseshoe bats (family: Rhinolophidae) in Yunnan, China: RsSHC014 and Rs3367. These viruses are far more closely related to SARS-CoV than any previously identified bat coronaviruses, particularly in the receptor binding domain of the spike protein. Most importantly, we report the first recorded isolation of a live SL-CoV (bat SL-CoV-WIVl) from bat faecal samples in Vero E6 cells, which has typical coronavirus morphology, 99.9% sequence identity to Rs3367 and uses ACE2 from humans, civets and Chinese horseshoe bats for cell entry. Preliminary in vitro testing indicates that WIV1 also has a broad species tropism. Our results provide the strongest evidence to date that Chinese horseshoe bats are natural reservoirs of SARS-CoV, and that intermediate hosts may not be necessary for direct human infection by some bat SL-CoVs. They also highlight the importance of pathogen-discovery programs targeting high-risk wildlife groups in emerging disease hotspots as a strategy for pandemic preparedness., The 2002-3 pandemic of SARS1 and the ongoing emergence of the Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) (2) demonstrate that CoVs are a significant public health threat. SARS-CoV was shown [...]

Since Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) was described in September 2012, over 90 cases have been reported worldwide, 70 from Saudi Arabia. The incidence of infection with the causative agent, [...]

The virus family Reoviridae comprises a diverse group of nonenveloped, segmented, double-stranded RNA viruses classified into 10 genera. Members of the genus Orthoreovirus are classified as fusogenic or nonfusogenic, depending [...]

Hendra virus (HeV) is a zoonotic paramyxovirus harbored by Australian mainland flying foxes, from which it is believed to be transmitted directly to horses. In horses, HeV causes a severe, [...]

An unprecedented, increasing interest in bats as reservoirs of infectious diseases occurred during the past decade. Mounting evidence indicates an association of bats with various emerging infections, some with high [...]

Climate change models predict that much of western North America is becoming significantly warmer and drier, resulting in overall reductions in availability of water for ecosystems. Herein, I demonstrate that significant declines in the reproductive success of female insectivorous bats occur in years when annual environmental conditions mimic the long-term predictions of regional climate change models. Using a data set gathered on bat populations from 1996 through 2008 along the Front Range of Colorado, I compare trends in population numbers and reproductive outcomes of six species of vespertilionid bats with data on mean annual high temperature, precipitation, snow pack, and stream discharge rates. I show that levels of precipitation and flow rates of small streams near maternity colonies is fundamentally tied to successful reproduction in female bats, particularly during the lactation phase. Across years that experienced greater than average mean temperatures with less than average precipitation and stream flow, bat populations responded by slight to profound reductions in reproductive output depending on the severity of drought conditions. In particular, reproductive outputs showed profound declines (32-51%) when discharge rates of the largest stream in the field area dropped below 7 [m.sup.3]/s, indicating a threshold response. Such sensitivity to environmental change portends severe impacts to regional bat populations if current scenarios for climate Change in western North America are accurate. In addition, bats act as early-warning indicators of large-scale ecological effects resulting from further regional warming and drying trends currently at play in western North America. Key words: bats; climate change; hydrology; lactation; reproduction; water.

The latest science news, in brief. The latest science news, in brief., Author Affiliations: Pink hare, deadlier COVID and a trove of bat coronaviruses The South African springhare fluoresces hot pink under ultraviolet light. Credit: J. Martin and E. Olson, Northland College; [...]

Since the recent discoveries of Ebola virus, Henipavirus, and severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated coronavirus infections, interest in the role of bats as hosts for pathogens has markedly increased (1). With [...]

Bats have been increasingly recognized as an important source of zoonotic viruses responsible for some of the recent major disease outbreaks, including Hendra, Nipah, severe acute respiratory syndrome-associated, and Ebola [...]

Diverse coronaviruses have been identified in bats from several continents but not from Africa. We identified group 1 and 2 coronaviruses in bats in Kenya, including SARS-related coronaviruses. The sequence [...]

Estimating survival rates of naturally hibernating mammals is important for ecological and conservation reasons, but empirical estimates are logistically difficult to obtain. Individual-based models can estimate survival under circumstances that would be impossible or unethical to test experimentally. Here, we present an individual-based model based on energy expenditure to estimate survival rates of hibernating little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus). Initial simulations assumed only thermal energetics of individuals were important to energy expenditure; subsequent simulations assumed bats also use a behavioral mechanism (clustering) to reduce energy expenditure during euthermy. Our model suggests that survival rates are high (>0.96) for populations that cluster during hibernation and experience no human disturbance, regardless of winter length (between 90 and 200 d). Survival rates are much lower, especially at long winter lengths (0.73 [+ or -] 0.01 SD at 200 d), if bats do not cluster. Human disturbances strongly affect survival rates, but the relationship is not linear. Survival rates are not lowered substantially by a limited number of disturbances because those arousals would have occurred naturally, but as disturbances reach a frequency threshold (dependent on winter length and disturbance pattern) they become very detrimental to survival. Thus, our model has implications for understanding the effect of environmental variability, social thermoregulation, and human disturbance on mammals hibernating under natural conditions. Key words: hibernation, individual-based model, Myotis, overwinter survival