Fruit bat population covering central Africa is carrier of two deadly viruses

A population of fruit bats which is found across much of continental Africa is widely infected with two deadly viruses that could spread to humans, new research reveals. This new information indicates that the unique population of freely mixing bats across the entire continent facilitates the spread of the viruses - Professor James Wood The study, conducted jointly by the University of Cambridge and the Zoological Society of London's Institute of Zoology and published today , found that the "gregarious" bats span over 4,500 km of central Africa (around the distance from California to New York). The researchers also discovered that thirty-four per cent of the bats had been infected with Lagos bat virus, a disease similar to rabies, and 42 per cent had been infected with henipaviruses. The African straw-coloured fruit bat (Eidolon helvum), which can live in roosts of over one million and often congregates near cities, was previously known to be a reservoir for these viruses, but it was not known to what extent. For the study, the researchers tested over 2,000 bats in 12 different countries across Africa, measuring DNA from blood and tissue samples. They discovered that the bats were largely genetically similar, meaning that they travelled and mated across the continent without any evidence of population subgroups or specific migratory patterns - the largest example of this freely mixing population structure ever found in mammals. The species' homogeneity and extensive movement means that the two viruses can be spread easily.