Batology

bat

• class Mammalia, order Chiroptera, 1,224 species
• 37 species in Japan
  • 2 extinct
• only mammal that can fly
  • 10-15km for microchiropterans, 50km for megachiropterans
• echolocation
  • sound sensor
• roosting behavior
  • natural roost
  • man-made habitats
  • colony size of <10 to >200,000
• longevity >10-20 yrs
  • the oldest 41 y/o
  • 1 offspring per a pair
• dietary habits
  • insectivorous
    • eats amount of 1/3 of body weight per night
  • frugivorous
    • pollenizer & disseminates seeds
  • carnivorous
  • omnivorous
  • sangvorous
    • blood-sucking bats are very rare
• alloterm
  • seasonal hibernation in some species

bat derived virus

• rabies in 1936
• Hendavirus in 2000
• Nipah virus in 2002
• ebolavirus in 2005
• ...

nipah

• El Niño phenomena in 1997-98 promoted breeding of bats
• bat contaminated date palm sap with nipah virus
• later direct human-to-human transmission observed in nipah outbreak in Malaysia

influenza

• distinct lineage of flu A in bat
  • H17N10, H18N11
• potential generator of pandemic influenza

bat surveillance

• karstic areas in northern part of Viet Nam
  • karst landscape - many caves
  • paradise for bats
  • bat hunters in northern Viet Nam