Bats, rabies, and other emerging diseases

More than 300 participants from around the world arrived in Berlin, Germany, earlier this month to take part in The 3rd International Berlin Bat Conference: Bats in the Anthropocene*.

Hosted by Dr. Christian C. Voigt and Dr. Ana G. Popa-Lisseanu, of the Leibniz Institute for Zoo and Wildlife Research, the conference was an opportunity for experts in different fields of bat biology and ecology to get together and share knowledge. The participants included ecologists, physiologists, conservationists, veterinarians, and other bio-medical professionals.

Besides invited talks and poster sessions, plenary speakers opened each session to review developments in research areas. One of these sessions involved bats and emerging infectious diseases.

Dr. Charles Rupprecht was representing GARC and discussed the lessons that can be learned from rabies for the prevention and control of emerging infectious bat diseases. Also taking part in the session were Dr. Conrad Freuling and Dr. Ashley Banyard. Respectively, they spoke on whether the discovery of new strains of lyssaviruses** in Europe and Africa is due to emergence or greater effort to find them; and, the need for pan-lyssavirus vaccines. Dr. Thomas Muller (Germany) moderated the session on bats and rabies and the resulting discussion.

Sharing expertise in ongoing research and applied aspects of disease prevention and control is a key aspect of our work. This conference was a chance to position rabies within the context of other emerging infectious diseases of bats and the human landscape.

*‘Anthropocene’ refers to the geological age in which human activity has shaped the landscape.

**Rabies is a lyssavirus