Bat Reservoirs for Rabies Virus and Epidemiology of Rabies in Colombia: a review

Rabies is a fatal zoonotic disease caused by a neurotropic RNA virus partof the family Rhabdoviridae. The disease is characterized by encephaliticinflammation and is responsible for a number of annual fatal deaths ofpeople and animals in the world. Chiropters such as insectivorous, frugivorousand hematophagous bats are the major transmitters, reservoirs,and vectors of the rabies virus. In Colombia, a total of thirty-five cases ofhuman rabies occurred between 2000 2014. Of the thirty-five cases twenty-two were transmitted by bats. The genetic variant V3 (hematophagousbats) were responsible for 24 human deaths, while the genetic variant V4,carried by insectivorous bats, caused three human deaths. The disease ismainly linked to infected cats that may have hunted infected bats and thentransmitted the virus to humans. Diagnosis is usually made by detectionof the virus from infected animals and techniques such as RT-PCR, whichmight be used to promote active surveillance in bat populations. Rabies isa preventable disease and vaccination of pets confers protective immunity,however, vaccination coverage of pets in Colombia is still limited. This reviewarticle collects epidemiological data of rabies virus genetic variantsassociated with chiropters species that have been reported to transmit thevirus in the world and emphasizes on rabies cases reported in Colombiaduring the last decades.