Rabies in the Americas

I’ve just returned from the Rabies In The Americas (RITA) conference in Quebec, Canada.  It was a fantastic meeting of scientists, public health officials, veterinarians, doctors, students and others all interested in rabies.  It was a week long event which included many presentations about the latest discoveries in rabies research.

Participants from all over the Americas attended including Mexico, Brasil, Argentina, other South and Central American countries as well as the United States and Canada.  There were even participants from as far away as the Philippines, China, Sri Lanka and Thailand among other Asian countries.  Africa and Europe were also represented with participants from those regions as well.  All presentations were simultaneously presented in French, English, Spanish and Portugese  through a translation service.

It was the 20th anniversary of the meeting, which was in part founded by rabies hero Dr. George Baer.  The conference organizers honored Dr. Baer’s family during the event and named a scholarship for him – the George M. Baer Latin American Investigator Award.  This award recognizes an outstanding rabies researcher from Latin America every year.  This year, the prize went to Dr. Roberto Carrasco-Hernandez who presented a model for helping limit the impact of rabies in cattle caused by vampire bats.

The conference included a Gala night of celebration, where some of the scientists attending the conference dressed up in traditional 18th century French-Canadian costumes.  A raucus auction was held to raise money for rabies research.  It was quite a spectacle to behold!

I felt honored to be among the many rabies experts at RITA.  I learned so much more about rabies and the efforts that are ongoing to limit the impact of this terrible scourge.  I felt encouraged to meet and talk to so many people who are dedicating their lives to helping wipe out rabies.

Finally, we were given the privilege to host RITA XXII at Yale University in 2011.  We now have alot of planning and organization to do!  Wish us good luck!

RW

Miracles Needed! White Nose Syndrome hurting bats in the U.S.

In the past few years, a strange disease has been devastating bats across the Northeastern United States. Dubbed ‘White Nose Syndrome’ for the characteristic finding of a thin white fungus growing on the faces and wing membranes of the bats, this illness causes a high mortality.

Experts are worried, since the disease seems to be spreading and the death rates are so high. In some areas, more than 95% of bats have died. Some endangered bat species, such as the Indiana bat, could get pushed close to extinction if the disease cannot be stopped. No one knows for sure what is causing the disease – if it’s the white fungus or some other germ weakening the bats and allowing the fungus to grow.

Bats are important in the environment. Many bat species eat insects– such as moths and beetles which can damage crops. If large proportions of bats die off, there could be a greater reliance on harmful chemicals and pesticides to protect those crops.

Bats live in a different ‘world’ which might seem strange and frightening to some. Most bat species however are highly social – living in colonies for years. One bat researcher told me some bats can live up to 25 years! Bats make up 20% of all known mammal species, so there’s more of them than you might think. Mother bats usually just have one baby a year, and feed them milk to drink.

Bats don’t attack people or get tangled in someone’s hair. A healthy bat will try to avoid contact with humans if at all possible. A sick bat may have trouble flying and could be found on the ground. Like all wildlife, a bat should be respected and never handled without the proper equipment including durable gloves. A very small percentage of bats (usually 1% or less) might carry rabies. A scratch or a bite from a bat is a reason to see a doctor who would know about bat diseases – such as an Infectious Diseases specialist. The CDC rabies website gives some general advice on ‘What to do’ if a bat is found in your home.

So far experts don’t know exactly what is causing WNS or how to stop it. We’re hoping for some miracles soon to help these small but wonderful creatures.

Was Bear Gryll’s exposed to rabies?

I’ve been watching that show ‘Man vs. Wild’ on Discovery channel. If you haven’t seen it yet, you might want to tune in. Discovery has a schedule on the web (see http://dsc.discovery.com).

I first happened upon ‘Man vs. Wild’ just channel surfing, but within a few minutes of watching, I was hooked. Here was some great TV – which is hard to find these days. I don’t know why television in general is so pandering – I often wonder why the networks just don’t strive to make great programs and worry about the audiences secondarily. I think ‘build it and they will come’ should apply –even though it might seem riskier. Just consider the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy for example – what a Masterpiece!

Anyway, here’s this guy Bear Grylls, who by some miracle survived and recovered from a broken back after a parachuting accident. Now his assignment is to lead the viewer through some harrowing wilderness challenge. The show is a great mix of adventure, amazing natural beauty, perseverance, intelligence and ultimately triumph. I think this program inspires hope. I may not get outdoors that much, but I feel like I could spring into the back yard at any time, climb over the fence and into the wild mountains beyond.

I’ve seen many ‘cord’ victims in my career, since my training hospital had a spinal cord center. I dreaded to see them, since paralysis is such an awful curse. As a doctor, you wish you could do more, but with devastating neural injury, sometimes there was just nothing you could do. Bear must have been very lucky and I’m sure a miracle occurred there.

I’m hoping Bear’s luck holds out. Last week I saw his ‘Panama’ episode, where he and the crew traverse through a bat infested cave in pitch darkness. He didn’t report the species of bat, although he suggested they were vampire bats – Desmodus rotundus. Whether or not that was the correct species is irrelevant, since rabies is actually a ‘bat’ virus and could be transmitted by any number of bat species.

A new bat species – the Mindoro Fruitbat!

I was very pleased to hear about a recent ‘small miracle’ in the world of biodiversity. A new bat species was found in the Philippines according to scientists reporting in the Journal of Mammalogy.

(see Esselstyn JA (2007) A NEW SPECIES OF STRIPE-FACED FRUIT BAT (CHIROPTERA: PTEROPODIDAE: STYLOCTENIUM) FROM THE PHILIPPINES.
Journal of Mammalogy: Vol. 88, No. 4 pp. 951–958

Apparently this is a fruit-eating bat or ‘flying fox’, with orange fur and three white stripes on its face. Flying foxes are quite unlike the bats we have fluttering around over our heads in North America. These animals have fox-like faces with reddish fur and are quite large. Mostly they feed on fruits and are extremely important ecologically, as anyone from Bat Conservation International can tell you.

I remember with fascination visiting the Subic Bay area of Luzon, Philippines and seeing an enormous colony of these creatures, right behind our hotel! It was called ‘Bat Kingdom’ and fortunately was a protected area.