We report the case findings of Australian bat lyssavirus infection in two black flying foxes (Pteropus alecto) and one little red flying fox (Pteropus scapulatus) from north Queensland between January 1995 and August 1996. Although the P. alecto case in January 1995 is the first recognised case of Australian bat lyssavirus infection in Australia, this was a retrospective diagnosis made after id...

OBJECTIVES Ongoing potential exposure of members of the public to Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) in South East Queensland, Australia, prompted investigation of community knowledge, risk perception, and intention to handle bats to inform future prevention efforts. METHODS After pilot testing, a computer-assisted telephone survey of a representative sample of 700 adults without previous poten...

BACKGROUND Mokola virus (MOKV) is a rabies-related lyssavirus and appears to be exclusive to the African continent. Only 24 cases of MOKV, which includes two human cases, have been reported since its identification in 1968. MOKV has an unknown reservoir host and current commercial vaccines do not confer protection against MOKV. RESULTS We describe three new isolations of MOKV from domestic ca...

BACKGROUND Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) infects a number of flying fox and insectivorous bats species in Australia. Human infection with ABLV is inevitably fatal unless prior vaccination and/or post-exposure treatment (PET) is given. Despite ongoing public health messaging about the risks associated with bat contact, surveillance data have revealed a four-fold increase in the number of peop...

The recent association of a fatal human case of encephalitis with a newly identified lyssavirus apparently acquired from a native Australian bat has highlighted the possibility that previous human infections have passed urecognised. Infected bats have been identified on the Queensland Gold Coast where extensive close contact between bats and humans has occurred for many years. In an attempt to ...

The Lyssavirus glycoprotein (G) is a membrane protein responsible for virus entry and protective immune responses. To explore possible roles of the glycoprotein in host shift or adaptation of Lyssavirus, we retrieved 53 full-length glycoprotein gene sequences from NCBI GenBank. The sequences were from different host isolates over a period of 70 years in 21 countries. Computational analyses dete...

Rabies is a worldwide zoonosis resulting from Lyssavirus infection. In Europe, Eptesicus serotinus is the most frequently reported bat species infected with Lyssavirus, and thus considered to be the reservoir of European bat Lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1). To date, the role of other bat species in EBLV-1 epidemiology and persistence remains unknown. Here, we built an EBLV-1-transmission model based...

The genetic diversity of Australian bat lyssavirus (ABL) was investigated by comparing 24 ABL isolate glycoprotein (G) gene nucleotide sequences with those of 37 lyssaviruses representing Lyssavirus genotypes 1-6. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that ABL forms a monophyletic group separate from other lyssaviruses. This group differentiates into two clades: one associated with Pteropus (flying f...