Lyssavirus is a genus of RNA viruses in the family Rhabdoviridae, order Mononegavirales. Mammals, including humans, can serve as natural hosts. The genus Lyssavirus includes the rabies virus traditionally associated with the disease of the same name.
Rabies virus, scientific name Rabies lyssavirus, is a neurotropic virus that causes rabies in humans and animals. Rabies transmission can occur through the saliva of animals and less commonly through contact with human saliva. Rabies lyssavirus, like many rhabdoviruses, has an extremely wide host range. In the wild it has been found infecting many mammalian species, while in the laboratory it has been found that birds can be infected, as well as cell cultures from mammals, birds, reptiles and insects.
Menangle pararubulavirus, also called Menangle virus, is a virus that infects pigs, humans and bats.
In infectious disease ecology and epidemiology, a natural reservoir, also known as a disease reservoir or a reservoir of infection, is the population of organisms or the specific environment in which an infectious pathogen naturally lives and reproduces, or upon which the pathogen primarily depends for its survival. A reservoir is usually a living host of a certain species, such as an animal or a plant, inside of which a pathogen survives, often without causing disease for the reservoir itself. By some definitions a reservoir may also be an environment external to an organism, such as a volume of contaminated air or water.
Nipah virus, scientific name Nipah henipavirus, is a bat-borne virus that causes Nipah virus infection in humans and other animals, a disease with a high mortality rate. Numerous disease outbreaks caused by Nipah virus have occurred in South and Southeast Asia. Nipah virus belongs to the genus Henipavirus along with the Hendra virus, which has also caused disease outbreaks.
The big brown bat is a species of vesper bat distributed widely throughout North America, the Caribbean, and the northern portion of South America. It was first described as a species in 1796. Compared to other microbats, the big brown bat is relatively large, weighing 15–26 g (0.53–0.92 oz) and possessing a wingspan of 32.5–35 cm (12.8–13.8 in).
Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV), originally named Pteropid lyssavirus (PLV), is a zoonotic virus closely related to the rabies virus. It was first identified in a 5-month-old juvenile black flying fox collected near Ballina in northern New South Wales, Australia, in January 1995 during a national surveillance program for the recently identified Hendra virus. ABLV is the seventh member of the genus Lyssavirus and the only Lyssavirus member present in Australia.
Mokola lyssavirus, commonly called Mokola virus (MOKV), is a RNA virus related to rabies virus that has been sporadically isolated from mammals across sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of isolates have come from domestic cats exhibiting symptoms characteristically associated to rabies virus infection.
Lagos bat lyssavirus, formerly Lagos bat virus (LBV) is a Lyssavirus of southern and central Africa that causes a rabies-like illness in mammals. It was first isolated from a fruit bat from Lagos Island, Nigeria in 1956. Brain samples from the bat showed poor cross-reactivity to rabies antibodies but the virus was found to be closely related to the rabies virus. This was the first discovery of a rabies-related virus. Until this time, rabies was thought to have a single causal agent.
Duvenhage lyssavirus (DUVV) is a member of the genus Lyssavirus, which also contains the rabies virus. The virus was discovered in 1970, when a South African farmer died of a rabies-like encephalitic illness, after being bitten by a bat. In 2006, Duvenhage virus killed a second person, when a man was scratched by a bat in North West Province, South Africa, 80 km from the 1970 infection. He developed a rabies-like illness 27 days after the bat encounter, and died 14 days after the onset of illness. A 34-year-old woman who died in Amsterdam on December 8, 2007 was the third recorded fatality. She had been scratched on the nose by a small bat while travelling through Kenya in October 2007, and was admitted to hospital four weeks later with rabies-like symptoms.
An emergent virus is a virus that is either newly appeared, notably increasing in incidence/geographic range or has the potential to increase in the near future. Emergent viruses are a leading cause of emerging infectious diseases and raise public health challenges globally, given their potential to cause outbreaks of disease which can lead to epidemics and pandemics. As well as causing disease, emergent viruses can also have severe economic implications. Recent examples include the SARS-related coronaviruses, which have caused the 2002-2004 outbreak of SARS (SARS-CoV-1) and the 2019–21 pandemic of COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). Other examples include the human immunodeficiency virus which causes HIV/AIDS; the viruses responsible for Ebola; the H5N1 influenza virus responsible for avian flu; and H1N1/09, which caused the 2009 swine flu pandemic. Viral emergence in humans is often a consequence of zoonosis, which involves a cross-species jump of a viral disease into humans from other animals. As zoonotic viruses exist in animal reservoirs, they are much more difficult to eradicate and can therefore establish persistent infections in human populations.
A subclinical infection — sometimes called a preinfection or inapparent infection — is an infection that, being subclinical, is nearly or completely asymptomatic. A subclinically infected person is thus an asymptomatic carrier of a microbe, intestinal parasite, or virus that usually is a pathogen causing illness, at least in some individuals. Many pathogens spread by being silently carried in this way by some of their host population. Such infections occur both in humans and animals.
Rabies is a viral disease that causes inflammation of the brain in humans and other mammals. Early symptoms can include fever and tingling at the site of exposure. These symptoms are followed by one or more of the following symptoms: nausea, vomiting, violent movements, uncontrolled excitement, fear of water, an inability to move parts of the body, confusion, and loss of consciousness. Once symptoms appear, the result is nearly always death. The time period between contracting the disease and the start of symptoms is usually one to three months but can vary from less than one week to more than one year. The time depends on the distance the virus must travel along peripheral nerves to reach the central nervous system.
Almost all human deaths caused by rabies occur in Asia and Africa. There are an estimated 59,000 human deaths annually from rabies worldwide.
Rabies is a viral zoonotic neuroinvasive disease which causes inflammation in the brain and is usually fatal. Rabies, caused by the rabies virus, primarily infects mammals. In the laboratory it has been found that birds can be infected, as well as cell cultures from birds, reptiles and insects. Animals with rabies suffer deterioration of the brain and tend to behave bizarrely and often aggressively, increasing the chances that they will bite another animal or a person and transmit the disease. Most cases of humans contracting the disease from infected animals are in developing nations. In 2010, an estimated 26,000 people died from rabies, down from 54,000 in 1990.
Cryptic rabies refers to infection from unrecognized exposure to rabies virus. It is often phylogenetically traced to bats. It is most often seen in the southern United States. Silver-haired bats and tricolored bats are the two most common bat species associated with this form of infection, though both species are known to have less contact with humans than other bat species such as the big brown bat. That species is common throughout the United States and often roosts in buildings and homes where human contact is more likely.
Bat virome refers to the group of viruses associated with bats. Bats host a diverse array of viruses, including all seven types described by the Baltimore classification system: (I) double-stranded DNA viruses; (II) single-stranded DNA viruses; (III) double-stranded RNA viruses; (IV) positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses; (V) negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses; (VI) positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses that replicate through a DNA intermediate; and (VII) double-stranded DNA viruses that replicate through a single-stranded RNA intermediate. The greatest share of bat-associated viruses identified as of 2020 are of type IV, in the family Coronaviridae.
European bat 2 lyssavirus(EBLV-2) is one of three rabies virus-like agents of the genus Lyssavirus found in Daubenton's bats in Great Britain. Human fatalities have occurred: the naturalist David McRae who was bitten by a Daubenton's bat in Scotland, became infected with EBLV-2a and died in November 2002. It must now be assumed that the virus is present in bats in the UK. Testing of dead bats by MAFF/DEFRA over the last decade indicates that the overall incidence of infection is likely to be very low, although limited testing of live Daubenton's bats for antibodies suggests that exposure to EBLV-2 may be more widespread. Nevertheless, infected bat bites have caused human deaths so appropriate precautions against infection must be taken. The Department of Health’s recommendation is that people regularly handling bats should be vaccinated against rabies. Included in this category are all active bat workers and wardens, and those regularly taking in sick and injured bats. The Statutory Nature Conservation Organisations and the Bat Conservation Trust urge all those involved in bat work to ensure that they are fully vaccinated and that they receive regular boosters. Bats should not be handled by anyone who has not received these vaccinations. Even when fully vaccinated, people should avoid being bitten by wearing appropriate bite-proof gloves when handling bats. Any bat bite should be thoroughly cleansed with soap and water and advice should be sought from your doctor about the need for post-exposure treatment. Further information is available from the SNCOs, the Bat Conservation Trust or the Health Protection Agency (HPA) /Scottish Centre for Infection and Environmental Health (SCIEH).
Bombali ebolavirus or Bombali virus is a species of the genus Ebolavirus, first reported on 27 July 2018. It was discovered and sequenced by a PREDICT research team from the U.S. in the Bombali area in the north of Sierra Leone, west Africa. The virus was found in the Angolan free-tailed bat and the Little free-tailed bat.
West Caucasian bat lyssavirus (WCBL) is a member of genus Lyssavirus, family Rhabdoviridae and order Mononegavirales. This virus was first isolated from Miniopterus schreibersii, in the western Caucasus Mountains of southeastern Europe in 2002. WCBL is the most divergent form of Lyssavirus, and is found in Miniopterus bats (insectivorous), Rousettus aegyptiacus, and Eidolon helvum. The latter two are both fruit bats. The virus is fragile as it can be inactivated by UV light and chemicals, such as ether, chloroform, and bleach. WCBL has not been known to infect humans thus far.
