Zoonotic Viruses of Flying Foxes in Australia

Abstract

Bats belong to the order Chiroptera and are divided into two suborders, Microchiroptera (microbats) and Megachiroptera (megabats). In Australia, there are 13 species of megachiropterans in the genus Pteropus, 8 of which are flying foxes. Four species of the flying foxes, grey-headed (P. poliocephalus), black (P. alecto), little red (P. scapulatus) and spectacled (P. conspicillatus), seem to play an important role as reservoir hosts for important zoonotic viruses in spreading and establishing infection in some species of animals including humans.
A few of the several novel viruses isolated from flying foxes in Australia in the 1990s, such as Hendra virus, Menangle virus and Australian bat lyssavirus, are important as zoonotic pathogens. Hendra and Menangle viruses are characterised as Paramyxoviridae. Hendra virus causes respiratory and neurological signs and often fatal illness in both horses and humans. Menangle virus which caused fetal deaths in a piggery may cause a febrile, influenza-like illness in humans. The Australian bat lyssavirus is considered to be a new species within the genus Lyssavirus and is most closely related to serotype 1 (classical rabies) and serotype 5 (European bat lyssavirus 1). This virus causes neurological signs in bats and can cause a fatal human illness.