Bat harvesting in India: Detection, characterization and mitigation of emerging infectious disease risk
Abstract
Emerging infectious diseases pose a continual risk for humans, imparting major health and economic challenges. It is estimated that greater than 70% of these diseases originate in wildlife, which demonstrates the importance of understanding the diversity of parasites that circulate in animals. Bats are important reservoirs of several medically important viruses that have high case fatality rates, including rabies/lyssaviruses, the henipaviruses, SARS-like coronaviruses, and Ebola virus and the related filoviruses. India is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world, however there are currently few reports of viruses detected in bats. Outbreaks will often begin from point source origins, as phylogenetic data from the recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa indicates. Therefore, studying specific interfaces where humans are exposed more frequently due to their proximity and heightened interactions with wildlife can provide critical information on exposure. Bat harvesting is a common practice across India, as concentrated efforts can yield high numbers of bats. This contact and processing of bushmeat is an opportune place for cross-species transmission to occur. By sampling the bat populations where harvesting occurs before, during and after the trapping, we can determine if bat harvests increase the shedding of viruses and what medically important viruses are circulating in these bat populations. This will allow us to generate risk models and understand which species may be natural virus reservoirs in India.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 10, 2018
- Source ID
- HDTRA11710028
Entities
People
- Ian H Mendenhall
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- National University of Singapore