Coronaviruses in Bats

This article summarizes current detections of coronaviruses in bats in different geographic regions worldwide, and underlines the potential role of bats as ancestor and reservoir hosts of different coronaviruses. Bats can be found in almost all global habitats with the notable exception of the high...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Bokelmann, Marcel, Balkema-Buschmann, Anne
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: 2021
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.2376/1439-0299-2020-44
https://www.openagrar.de/receive/openagrar_mods_00070104
https://www.openagrar.de/servlets/MCRFileNodeServlet/openagrar_derivate_00038362/BMTW-10.23761439-0299-2020-44-Balkema-Buschmann.pdf
https://www.vetline.de/coronaviruses-in-bats
https://www.vetline.de/system/files/frei/BMTW-10.23761439-0299-2020-44-Balkema-Buschmann.pdf
Description
Summary:This article summarizes current detections of coronaviruses in bats in different geographic regions worldwide, and underlines the potential role of bats as ancestor and reservoir hosts of different coronaviruses. Bats can be found in almost all global habitats with the notable exception of the high arctic and a few isolated oceanic islands. First, we give an overview on the potential role of bats as carriers of zoonotic viruses, underlining the relevance of specific physiological traits of representatives of this mammalian order, that are supporting the transmission of these disease agents. Research in this field was predominantly initiated by the SARS coronavirus event in 2003, and in the meantime, bats are assumed to be the ancestor hosts for numerous alpha and beta coronaviruses. Bat associated coronaviruses have been detected on all continents where bats are distributed. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, coronavirus research has again been considerably intensified, leading to a gain of knowledge regarding the interaction between bats and coronaviruses that will be valuable in the management of potential future outbreaks originating from bats. Finally, an outlook is given on research gaps that could be invaluable when dealing with future pandemic events. Dieser Artikel gibt einen Überblick über die bisherigen Nachweise von Coronaviren in Fledertieren in verschiedenen geografischen Regionen weltweit. Darüber hinaus wird auch die potenzielle Rolle der Fledertiere als Ursprungs- und Reservoirwirt für die verschiedenen Coronaviren erörtert. Bemerkenswerterweise kommen Fledertiere weltweit in fast allen Habitaten vor, mit Ausnahme der hohen Arktis und einiger isolierter Ozeaninseln. Zunächst wird ein Überblick über die Bedeutung der Fledertiere als potenzielle Überträger von Viren mit zoonotischem Potenzial gegeben und dabei die Bedeutung der speziellen physiologischen Charakteristika dieser Säugetier-Ordnung hervorgehoben, die die Verbreitung solcher Erreger unterstützen. Die Forschung auf diesem ...