Hematological values for free-living great fruit-eating bats, Artibeus lituratus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae) / Perfil hematológico de morcegos frugívoros, Artibeus lituratus (Chiroptera: Phyllostomidae)

It was provide a hematological profile of Artibeus lituratus (Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae). Animals were collected from October 2017 to February 2018 in an urban forest in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Southeastern Brazil. Males and females showed similar overall mean values for the parameters analyzed. Males had higher values for erythrocytes (RBC), hematocrit and basophils. Females had higher levels of eosinophils than males. The hematological values reported here will serve as reference for future research on health conditions of free-living and captive populations of Artibeus lituratus, as well as for research on pathogens associated with these bats.(AU)

O presente trabalho estabeleceu o perfil hematológico de morcegos frugívoros de vida livre, A. lituratus (Phyllostomidae: Stenodermatinae). As amostragens foram realizadas de outubro de 2017 a fevereiro de 2018 em uma floresta urbana na cidade do Rio de Janeiro, Sudeste do Brasil. Machos e fêmeas apresentaram valores médios gerais semelhantes para os parâmetros analisados. Os machos apresentaram valores de eritrócitos (RBC), hematócrito e basófilos mais altos. As fêmeas apresentaram níveis mais elevados de eosinófilos que os machos. Os valores hematológicos aqui reportados servirão de referência para pesquisas sobre condições de saúde de populações de Artibeus lituratus em vida livre e de cativeiro, assim como para pesquisas sobre patógenos associados a esses morcegos.(AU)

Bats and zoonotic viruses: can we confidently link bats with emerging deadly viruses?

An increasingly asked question is 'can we confidently link bats with emerging viruses?'. No, or not yet, is the qualified answer based on the evidence available. Although more than 200 viruses - some of them deadly zoonotic viruses - have been isolated from or otherwise detected in bats, the supposed connections between bats, bat viruses and human diseases have been raised more on speculation than on evidence supporting their direct or indirect roles in the epidemiology of diseases (except for rabies). However, we are convinced that the evidence points in that direction and that at some point it will be proved that bats are competent hosts for at least a few zoonotic viruses. In this review, we cover aspects of bat biology, ecology and evolution that might be relevant in medical investigations and we provide a historical synthesis of some disease outbreaks causally linked to bats. We provide evolutionary-based hypotheses to tentatively explain the viral transmission route through mammalian intermediate hosts and to explain the geographic concentration of most outbreaks, but both are no more than speculations that still require formal assessment.