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Bat rabies in Washington State: Temporal-spatial trends and risk factors for zoonotic transmission (2000–2017)

Bonwitt, Jesse; Oltean, Hanna; Lang, Misty; Kelly, Rochelle M.; Goldoft, Marcia

Bat rabies in Washington State: Temporal-spatial trends and risk factors for zoonotic transmission (2000–2017) Thumbnail


Authors

Hanna Oltean

Misty Lang

Rochelle M. Kelly

Marcia Goldoft



Abstract

Background: Rabies is a zoonotic viral disease that can affect all mammals. In the United States, the majority of human rabies cases are caused by bats, which are the only known reservoirs for rabies virus (RABV) in Washington State. We sought to characterize bat RABV epidemiology in Washington among bats submitted by the public for RABV testing. Methods: We examined temporal and spatial trends in RABV positivity (% positive) for taxonomically identified bats submitted to diagnostic laboratories during 2006–2017. For a subset of Myotis species, we evaluated sensitivity and predictive value positive (PPV) of morphological identification keys, using mitochondrial markers (cytochrome b) as a reference. For bats tested during 2000–2016, we analyzed RABV positivity by circumstances of encounters with humans, cats, and dogs. Results: During 2006–2017, RABV positivity for all bat species was 6.0% (176/2,928). Among species with ≥100 submissions, RABV positivity was 2.0%–11.7% and highest among big brown bats (Eptesicus fuscus). An increasing trend in annual positivity was significant only for big brown bats (P = 0.02), and was circumstantially linked to a geographic cluster. Sensitivity and PPV of morphological identification keys was high for M. evotis but varied for M. lucifugus, M. californicus, M. yumanensis, and M. septentrionalis. A positive RABV result was significantly associated with nonsynanthropic species, abnormal behavior, abnormal hiding, injury, biting, found in a body of water, found alive, found outdoors, and caught by a dog. Conclusion: Monitoring passive RABV surveillance trends enables public health authorities to perform more accurate risk assessments. Differences in temporal and spatial trends in RABV positivity by bat species indicate the importance of collecting taxonomic data, although morphological identification can be unreliable for certain Myotis species. Current public health practices for RABV exposures should be maintained as RABV infection in bats can never be excluded without diagnostic testing.

Citation

Bonwitt, J., Oltean, H., Lang, M., Kelly, R. M., & Goldoft, M. (2018). Bat rabies in Washington State: Temporal-spatial trends and risk factors for zoonotic transmission (2000–2017). PLoS ONE, 13(10), Article e0205069. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205069

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date Sep 18, 2018
Online Publication Date Oct 9, 2018
Publication Date Oct 9, 2018
Deposit Date Oct 17, 2018
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal PLoS ONE
Publisher Public Library of Science
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 13
Issue 10
Article Number e0205069
DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0205069

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Published Journal Article (2.1 Mb)
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Publisher Licence URL
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/publicdomain

Copyright Statement
This is an open access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.





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