Studies of Arthropod-Borne Virus Infections in Chiroptera

Abstract

In studies designed to investigate the role of bats in the ecology of JBE virus in Japan, 1,934 bats representing 10 different species were collected at various sites throughout Hokkaido, Honshu, and Kyushu during 1963–1965. JBE virus was isolated from the blood and brown fat of bats netted in Honshu and Kyushu, but no viruses were recovered from bats obtained in Hokkaido, the northernmost part of Japan. Isolations were made with about equal frequency from groups of bats netted during each of the four seasons of the year. That bats are effective as reservoir hosts for arboviruses is put forward.