Question

Select a disease and explain how its spread is linked to bats.

Answer 1

Answer:

Explanation:

In 1994, an outbreak of an acute respiratory illness occurred in a human and 14 horses in Hendra, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia. These EIDs finally affected 2 humans and 22 horses [23]. Four additional outbreaks were observed during years 1994, 1999, and 2004, infecting two humans and five horses and killing all but one human. A virus of the Paramyxoviridae family, genus Henipavirus, carried by Pteropus bats, and named Hendra virus was shown to be the etiologic agent of this disease. Nipah virus (NiV), another member of the Paramyxoviridae family found in Pteropus bats, associated with encephalitis in humans, was discovered in an outbreak in Malaysia in 1998 that affected 283 persons and caused 109 deaths (case fatality rate 39%) [24]. Direct contact with infected pigs was identified as the predominant mode of human infection. Subsequently, outbreaks of NiV have been observed almost every year in Bangladesh [25] and occasionally in India