[Bad bats?].
For many centuries, man is fascinated by bats, the only flying mammals. Probably because of their particular immune system, bats can be considered an important reservoir for new emerging viral diseases like SARS-Coronavirus, Marburg fever, Ebola fever and Nipah virus encephalitis. During closer contact, they can transmit rabies and probably other nonviral infectious diseases. Bats get closer to man due to ecological modifications like deforestation, so that transmission of new infectious agents might provoke dramatic epidemics.
Genné
Daniel
D
Service de médecine interne, Hôpital de la ville, 2300 La Chaux-de-Fonds. daniel.genne@ne.ch
D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D004199:Disease Vectors; D006801:Humans