Voucher specimens for SARS-linked bats.

apparently on the basis of an unsubstantiated report (1). Li et al.’s data confirm that horseshoe bats are a reservoir for a coronavirus related to SARS-CoV found in humans and the virus isolated from palm civets, but this does not make them the reservoir for SARS-CoV. Dobson’s linking of bats to emerging diseases caused by Ebola and Marburg viruses is speculative and does not agree with published literature [e.g., (2)]. The assertion that direct transfer of Nipah virus from bats to humans occurred in Bangladesh and that human consumption of the pulp of fruit mouthed by bats is a route of these infections is not supported by the paper Dobson cited [i.e., (3)]. Ejected pellets of fruit bats consist of indigestible (by the bats) fiber and seeds with little nutritional value for animals (e.g., palm civets) unable to digest cellulose. Insectivorous bats cull indigestible insect parts, but we know of no evidence that this contaminates culled parts with bat saliva, let alone viruses. People must be concerned about SARS and other emerging infectious diseases and the roles that bats and other animals may play in their epidemiology. When public health is the focus, however, those concerned for conservation of wildlife (including bats) must insist on careful consideration of documented facts rather than speculation and unsubstantiated statements. MELVILLE B. FENTON, MATT DAVISON, THOMAS H. KUNZ, GARY F. MCCRACKEN, PAUL A. RACEY, MERLIN D. TUTTLE Department of Biology, Department of Applied Mathematics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, Canada. Department of Biology, Boston University, Boston, MA 02215, USA. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN 37996, USA. School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland, AB9 2TN, UK. Bat Conservation International, Austin, TX 78716, USA.