title: Prevalence of neutralizing antibodies to rabies virus in serum of seven species of insectivorous bats from Colorado and New Mexico, United States.
abstract: We determined the presence of rabies-virus-neutralizing antibodies (RVNA) in serum of 721 insectivorous bats of seven species captured, sampled, and released in Colorado and New Mexico, United States in 2003-2005. A subsample of 160 bats was tested for rabies-virus RNA in saliva. We sampled little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) at two maternity roosts in Larimer County, Colorado; big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus) at three maternity roosts in Morgan County, Colorado; and big brown bats at five maternity roosts in Larimer County. We also sampled hoary bats (Lasiurus cinereus) and silver-haired bats (Lasionycteris noctivagans) captured while drinking or foraging over water in Bernalillo County, New Mexico and at various locations in Larimer County. Big brown bats, little brown bats, long-legged myotis (Myotis volans), long-eared myotis (Myotis evotis), and fringed myotis (Myotis thysanodes) were also sampled over water in Larimer County. All species except long-eared myotis included individuals with RVNA, with prevalences ranging from 7% in adult female silver-haired bats to 32% in adult female hoary bats. None of the bats had detectable rabies-virus RNA in oropharyngeal swabs, including 51 bats of 5 species that had RVNA in serum. Antibody-positive bats were present in nine of the 10 maternity colonies sampled. These data suggest that wild bats are commonly exposed to rabies virus and develop a humoral immune response suggesting some degree of viral replication, but many infections fail to progress to clinical disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA. richard.bowen@colostate.edu
authors.forename: Richard A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Bowen
authors.forename: Thomas J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: O'Shea
authors.forename: Vidya
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Shankar
authors.forename: Melissa A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Neubaum
authors.forename: Daniel J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Neubaum
authors.forename: Charles E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Rupprecht
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000276:immunology / Q000821:virology; D003120:Colorado / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D009516:New Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D011818:Rabies / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D011820:Rabies virus / Q000276:immunology / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012463:Saliva / Q000821:virology; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral