Skip to main content
WCS
Menu
Library
Library Catalog
eJournals & eBooks
WCS Research
Archives
Research Use
Finding Aids
Digital Collections
WCS History
WCS Research
Research Publications
Science Data
Services for WCS Researchers
Archives Shop
Bronx Zoo
Department of Tropical Research
Browse By Product
About Us
FAQs
Intern or Volunteer
Staff
Donate
Search WCS.org
Search
search
Popular Search Terms
WCS History
Library and Archives
Library and Archives Menu
Library
Archives
WCS Research
Archives Shop
About Us
Donate
en
fr
Title
Seasonal shedding of coronavirus by straw-colored fruit bats at urban roosts in Africa
Author(s)
Montecino-Latorre, Diego; Goldstein, Tracey; Kelly, Terra R.; Wolking, David J.; Kindunda, Adam; Kongo, Godphrey; Bel-Nono, Samuel O.; Kazwala, Rudovick R.; Suu-Ire, Richard D.; Barker, Christopher M.; Johnson, Christine Kreuder; Mazet, Jonna A. K.
Published
2022
Publisher
PLoS ONE
Published Version DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0274490
Abstract
The straw-colored fruit bat (Eidolon helvum) is a pteropodid whose conservation is crucial for maintaining functional connectivity of plant populations in tropical Africa. Land conversion has pushed this species to adapt to roosting in urban centers across its range. These colonies often host millions of individuals, creating intensive human-bat contact interfaces that could facilitate the spillover of coronaviruses shed by these bats. A better understanding of coronavirus dynamics in these roosts is needed to identify peak times of exposure risk in order to propose evidence-based management that supports safe human-bat coexistence, as well as the conservation of this chiropteran. We studied the temporal patterns of coronavirus shedding in E. helvum, by testing thousands of longitudinally-collected fecal samples from two spatially distant urban roosts in Ghana and Tanzania. Shedding of coronaviruses peaked during the second part of pup weaning in both roosts. Assuming that coronavirus shedding is directly related to spillover risk, our results indicate that exposure mitigation should target reducing contact between people and E. helvum roosts during the pup “weaning” period. This recommendation can be applied across the many highly-populated urban sites occupied by E. helvum across Africa.
Keywords
coronavirus; molting; bat; fruit bats; animal sociality; Africa; probability distribution; virus testing; coronaviruses
Access Full Text
A full-text copy of this article may be available. Please email the
WCS Library
to request.
Back
PUB35736