Emerging infectious diseases · 2003 · 41 citations · 10 references
Veterinary MedicineInfectious DiseasesPathobiologyMolecular VirologyVector-borne DiseasesVirologyAnimal Infectious DiseasesEmerging ZoonosesEmerging Zoonotic DiseasesVector-borne ZoonosesViral ZoonosesZoonotic Outbreak InvestigationArboviral ZoonosesBat-borne Viral ZoonosesBats As Reservoir HostsRabies EpidemiologyRabies TransmissionRabies VirusZoonotic Vector-borne DiseaseZoonotic Viral Diseases
Two human rabies cases caused by a bat-associated virus variant were identified in September 2001 in Costa Rica, after a 31-year absence of the disease in humans. Both patients lived in a rural area where cattle had a high risk for bat bites, but neither person had a definitive history of being bitten by a rabid animal. Characterization of the rabies viruses from the patients showed that the reservoir was the hematophagous Vampire Bat, Desmodus rotundus, and that a sick cat was the vector.
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