Coronavirus sampling and surveillance in bats from 1996–2019: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 highlights a need for evidence-based strategies to monitor bat viruses. We performed a systematic review of coronavirus sampling (testing for RNA positivity) in bats globally. We identified 110 studies published between 2005 and 2020 that collectively reported positivity from 89,752 bat samples. We compiled 2,274 records of infection prevalence at the finest methodological, spatiotemporal and phylogenetic level of detail possible from public records into an open, static database named datacov, together with metadata on sampling and diagnostic methods. We found substantial heterogeneity in viral prevalence across studies, reflecting spatiotemporal variation in viral dynamics and methodological differences. Meta-analysis identified sample type and sampling design as the best predictors of prevalence, with virus detection maximized in rectal and faecal samples and by repeat sampling of the same site. Fewer than one in five studies collected and reported longitudinal data, and euthanasia did not improve virus detection. We show that bat sampling before the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was concentrated in China, with research gaps in South Asia, the Americas and sub-Saharan Africa, and in subfamilies of phyllostomid bats. We propose that surveillance strategies should address these gaps to improve global health security and enable the origins of zoonotic coronaviruses to be identified.

A framework to predict zoonotic reservoirs under data uncertainty: a case study on betacoronaviruses

“…Anthony et al, 2017;Ruiz-Aravena et al, 2022). Currently observed hotspots of betacoronavirus reservoirs predominantly clustered in Southeast Asia and southern Europe, in agreement with patterns of coronavirus surveillance in bats preceding the COVID-19 pandemic(Cohen et al, 2023). The currently observed distribution indicates that the seeming lack of betacoronaviruses within certain taxa and geographical regions is more likely due to sampling biases rather than a genuine absence of natural reservoirs of these viruses (Ruiz-Aravena et al, 2022).…”

Surveying Bat-Hosted Adenoviruses and Herpesviruses: A Comprehensive Analysis

“…The aims of this study were to analyze the bat species known to host AdVs and HSVs worldwide, to describe their distribution, and to contribute to the understanding of the role played by bats as hosts for these two large viral families. This review fills in an existing gap and completes the information already gathered at different scales on other viral families such as Coronaviridae [111][112][113][114][115], Retroviridae [116], Rhabdoviridae [114], and Paramyxoviridae [117].…”

Centrality-Based Heuristics in Risk Management: A Network-agent Dynamics for Analyzing Systemic Failure

“…Recent empirical inquiries echo this observation, as they discern systemic risks stemming from extreme events being exacerbated due to the segmentation of production. Guided by these findings, our investigation scrutinizes the impact of a priori memory -conceptualized as 'memorized capital' -on these systems, given the integration of social learning and evolutionary dynamics within our model [21] . This analytical thrust is congruent with contemporary research underscoring the role of individual behaviors in buttressing a system's resilience to both isolated and systemic risks.…”