Bats are known to be reservoirs of several medically important viruses including lyssaviruses. However, no systematic surveillance for bat rabies has been carried out in India, a canine rabies ...endemic country with a high burden of human rabies. Surveillance for rabies virus (RABV) infection in bats was therefore carried out in Nagaland, a north-eastern state in India at sites with intense human–bat interfaces during traditional bat harvests. Brain tissues and sera from bats were tested for evidence of infection due to RABV. Brain tissues were subjected to the fluorescent antibody test for detection of viral antigen and real-time reverse transcriptase PCR for presence of viral RNA. Bat sera were tested for the presence of rabies neutralizing antibodies by the rapid fluorescent focus inhibition test. None of the bat brains tested (n = 164) were positive for viral antigen or viral RNA. However, rabies neutralizing antibodies were detected in 4/78 (5·1%) bat sera tested, suggesting prior exposure to RABV or related lyssaviruses. The serological evidence of lyssaviral infection in Indian bats may have important implications in disease transmission and rabies control measures, and warrant extensive bat surveillance to better define the prevalence of lyssaviral infection in bats.
The Wroughton’s free-tailed bat (
is classified as Data Deficient under IUCN Red List due to inadequate information on its distribution, population, and ecology. The species was previously recorded ...from Belgaum district of Karnataka and from East Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills districts of Meghalaya and from Cambodia, represented by a single specimen. Through our study on Chiroptera taxa across 19 Community Reserves between October 2021 and January 2022 using physical search, mist netting and acoustic study we have identified a new colony of
from the Mikadogre village in South Garo Hills District of Meghalaya, which extends the current distribution to 135 km from the nearest known distribution site. Interestingly, unlike other known roosts of
which are in large caves with high roofs and deep crevices or cupolas, this roost was in the open limestone cliff located next to a stream. In addition to this, we have also documented the breeding colony of the species from a previously known site at Pynurkba. This new finding emphasises that there are more potential roosts across the Northeast region of India with similar habitats and altitudes waiting to be identified.
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