Abstract:
Africa experiences frequent emerging disease outbreaks
among humans, with bats often proposed as zoonotic
pathogen hosts. We comprehensively reviewed virus–bat
findings from papers published between 1978 and 2020
to evaluate the evidence that African bats are reservoir
and/or bridging hosts for viruses that cause human disease.
We present data from 162 papers (of 1322) with
original findings on (1) numbers and species of bats
sampled across bat families and the continent, (2) how
bats were selected for study inclusion, (3) if bats were
terminally sampled, (4) what types of ecological data,
if any, were recorded and (5) which viruses were
detected and with what methodology. We propose a
scheme for evaluating presumed virus–host relationships
by evidence type and quality, using the contrasting
available evidence for Orthoebolavirus versus Orthomarburgvirus
as an example. We review the wording
in abstracts and discussions of all 162 papers, identifying
key framing terms, how these refer to findings, and
how they might contribute to people’s beliefs about bats.
We discuss the impact of scientific research communication
on public perception and emphasize the need
for strategies that minimize human–bat conflict and
support bat conservation. Finally, we make recommendations
for best practices that will improve virological
study metadata.
