Lyssaviruses in Insectivorous Bats, South Africa, 2003–2018

The Study During 2003-2018, we tested 605 insectivorous bats (Appendix Tables 1, 2, https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/EID/article/26/12/20-3592-App1.pdf) of 41 species across South Africa (Figure 1; Appendix Tables 1, 2).Most bats were collected as part of a broader biosurveillance program in collaboration with bat taxonomists for species identification and classification.Among the bats collected, 562 appeared healthy and 28 were dead.Another 12 exhibited signs of disease or abnormal behavior, and 3 had been involved in human contact; we submitted these samples for rabies testing.We anesthetized the sampled bats with isoflurane inhalant (Safeline Pharmaceuticals, https://safeline.co.za), exsanguinated them by cardiac puncture, and then performed full necropsies.We identified bats on the basis of morphologic (4) and genetic characteristics (5).The sampling protocol was approved by the University of Pretoria Animal Ethics Committee (approval no.EC054-14).Permission to conduct research was obtained from the Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development (formerly Department of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries) of the Republic of South Africa under Section 20 of the Animal Diseases Act 1984 with additional provincial permits granted (Appendix Table 3).