Risk of Emerging Infections from Insectivorous Bats in Ukraine and Georgia
Abstract
Bats are the ancestral origins of high-consequence viral and bacterial agents that affect humans and other vertebrates. Bat’s remarkable vagility increases the potential of pathogen’s dissemination. We aim to investigate how landscape biodiversity change (pristine, rural, urbanized settings) could influence the assemblage of high consequence viral and bacterial agents in bat populations; how these overall changes may drive disease emergence in humans and domestic animals; and to build in-country capacity to detect and fully characterize viral (coronaviruses, filoviruses, paramyxoviruses, lyssaviruses and bunyaviruses, orthomixoviruses) and bacterial (Brucella spp, Leptospira spp and Yersinia spp) agents, under biosecure environments and best biosafety practices. Expected scientific outcomes comprise assessing the taxonomic breadth, dissemination dynamics, and origins of potentially dangerous viruses and bacteria endemic in bat populations of the region, with the ultimate purpose of anticipating disease emergence through risk modeling, while also strengthening scientific collaboration in the region.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Oct 13, 2021
- Source ID
- HDTRA12110043
Entities
People
- Denys Muzyka
Organizations
- Defense Threat Reduction Agency
- Science and Technology Center in Ukraine