Update on Potentially Zoonotic Viruses of European Bats

Abstract

Bats have been increasingly gaining attention as potential reservoir hosts of some of the most virulent viruses known. Numerous review articles summarize bats as potential reservoir hosts of human-pathogenic zoonotic viruses. For European bats, just one review article is available that we published in 2014. The present review provides an update on the earlier article and summarizes the most important viruses found in European bats and their possible implications for Public Health. We identify the research gaps and recommend monitoring of these viruses.

Keywords

• bats
• virome
• metagenomics
• Issyk-Kul virus
• SARS-like CoV
• zoonoses