title: Spatial characterization of colonies of the flying fox bat, a carrier of Nipah virus in Thailand.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  A major reservoir of Nipah virus is believed to be the flying fox genus Pteropus, a fruit bat distributed across many of the world's tropical and sub-tropical areas. The emergence of the virus and its zoonotic transmission to livestock and humans have been linked to losses in the bat's habitat. Nipah has been identified in a number of indigenous flying fox populations in Thailand. While no evidence of infection in domestic pigs or people has been found to date, pig farming is an active agricultural sector in Thailand and therefore could be a potential pathway for zoonotic disease transmission from the bat reservoirs. The disease, then, represents a potential zoonotic risk. To characterize the spatial habitat of flying fox populations along Thailand's Central Plain, and to map potential contact zones between flying fox habitats, pig farms and human settlements, we conducted field observation, remote sensing, and ecological niche modeling to characterize flying fox colonies and their ecological neighborhoods. A Potential Surface Analysis was applied to map contact zones among local epizootic actors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Flying fox colonies are found mainly on Thailand's Central Plain, particularly in locations surrounded by bodies of water, vegetation, and safe havens such as Buddhist temples. High-risk areas for Nipah zoonosis in pigs include the agricultural ring around the Bangkok metropolitan region where the density of pig farms is high.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Passive and active surveillance programs should be prioritized around Bangkok, particularly on farms with low biosecurity, close to water, and/or on which orchards are concomitantly grown. Integration of human and animal health surveillance should be pursued in these same areas. Such proactive planning would help conserve flying fox colonies and should help prevent zoonotic transmission of Nipah and other pathogens.
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock Development (DLD), Bangkok, Thailand. weeraden@yahoo.com.|Lutte biologique et Ecologie spatiale (LUBIES), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. weeraden@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Weerapong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Thanapongtharm
authors.affiliation: Lutte biologique et Ecologie spatiale (LUBIES), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. linard.catherine@gmail.com.|Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Brussels, Belgium. linard.catherine@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Linard
authors.affiliation: The Monitoring and Surveillance Center for Zoonotic Diseases in Wildlife and Exotic Animals (MOZWE), Mahidol University, Nakhonpatom, Thailand. witthawat.wir@mahidol.ac.th.
authors.forename: Witthawat
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wiriyarat
authors.affiliation: Department of Livestock Development (DLD), Bangkok, Thailand. pornpiroonc@dld.go.th.
authors.forename: Pornpiroon
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chinsorn
authors.affiliation: Department of National Parks, Wildlife, and Plant Conservation, Bangkok, Thailand. kbudsabong@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Budsabong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kanchanasaka
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Plant Biology, Center for Spatial Analysis, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK, 73019, USA. xiangming.xiao@ou.edu.|Institute of Biodiversity Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China. xiangming.xiao@ou.edu.
authors.forename: Xiangming
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.affiliation: International Center for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas (ICARDA), Amman, Jordan. C.Biradar@cgiar.org.
authors.forename: Chandrashekhar
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Biradar
authors.affiliation: Institute for Global Studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. rwallace24@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Robert G
authors.initials: RG
authors.lastname: Wallace
authors.affiliation: Lutte biologique et Ecologie spatiale (LUBIES), Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium. mgilbert@ulb.ac.be.|Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS), Brussels, Belgium. mgilbert@ulb.ac.be.
authors.forename: Marius
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gilbert
mesh_terms: D063147:Animal Distribution; D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000502:physiology* / Q000821:virology; D004197:Disease Reservoirs; D040362:Geographic Information Systems; D045464:Henipavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D045405:Nipah Virus / Q000502:physiology*; D012307:Risk Factors; D013552:Swine; D013553:Swine Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000821:virology; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology