Clinical Presentation and Serologic Response during a Rabies Epizootic in Captive Common Vampire Bats (Desmodus rotundus).

ABSTRACT: We report mortality events in a group of 123 common vampire bats (Desmodus rotundus) captured in México and housed for a rabies vaccine efficacy study in Madison, Wisconsin. Bat mortalities occurred in México and Wisconsin, but rabies cases reported herein are only those that occurred after arrival in Madison (n = 15). Bats were confirmed positive for rabies virus (RABV) by the direct fluorescent antibody test. In accordance with previous reports, we observed long incubation periods (more than 100 days), variability in clinical signs prior to death, excretion of virus in saliva, and changes in rabies neutralizing antibody (rVNA) titers post-infection. We observed that the furious form of rabies (aggression, hyper-salivation, and hyper-excitability) manifested in three bats, which ha

SUBMITTER: Cardenas-Canales EM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7157733 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature