Major bat‐borne zoonotic viral epidemics in Asia and Africa: A systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Bats are the natural reservoir host for many pathogenic and non‐pathogenic viruses, potentially spilling over to humans and domestic animals directly or via an intermediate host. The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic is the continuation of virus spillover events that have taken place over the last few decades, particularly in Asia and Africa. Therefore, these bat‐associated epidemics provide a significant number of hints, including respiratory cellular tropism, more intense susceptibility to these cell types, and overall likely to become a pandemic for the next spillover. In this systematic review, we analysed data to insight, through bat‐originated spillover in Asia and Africa. We used STATA/IC‐13 software for descriptive statistics and meta‐analysis. The random effect of meta‐analysis showed that the pooled estimates of case fatality rates of bat‐originated viral zoonotic diseases were higher in Africa (61.06%, 95%CI: 50.26 to 71.85, l2% = 97.3, p < 0.001). Moreover, estimates of case fatality rates were higher in Ebola (61.06%; 95%CI: 50.26 to 71.85, l2% = 97.3, p < 0.001) followed by Nipah (55.19%; 95%CI: 39.29 to 71.09, l2% = 94.2, p < 0.001), MERS (18.49%; 95%CI: 8.19 to 28.76, l2% = 95.4, p < 0.001) and SARS (10.86%; 95%CI: 6.02 to 15.71, l2% = 85.7, p < 0.001) with the overall case fatality rates of 29.86 (95%CI: 29.97 to 48.58, l2% = 99.0, p < 0.001). Bat‐originated viruses have caused several outbreaks of deadly diseases, including Nipah, Ebola, SARS and MERS in Asia and Africa in a sequential fashion. Nipah virus emerged first in Malaysia, but later, periodic outbreaks were noticed in Bangladesh and India. Similarly, the Ebola virus was detected in the African continent with neurological disorders in humans, like Nipah, seen in the Asian region. Two important coronaviruses, MERS and SARS, were introduced, both with the potential to infect respiratory passages. This paper explores the dimension of spillover events within and/or between bat–human and the epidemiological risk factors, which may lead to another pandemic occurring. Further, these processes enhance the bat‐originated virus, which utilises an intermediate host to jump into human species.

Strengthening coordination and collaboration of one health approach for zoonotic diseases in Africa

“…The African continent disproportionally experiences more outbreaks than the rest of the world, especially zoonotic outbreaks ranging from endemic zoonoses such as brucellosis and leptospirosis to neglected zoonoses such as rabies and onchocerciasis to emerging zoonoses such as anthrax, yellow fever, Ebola, Lassa fever and COVID-19 [21]. A meta-analysis reports a 61% case fatality rate of bat-originated viral zoonotic diseases in Africa [22]. Specifically, rabies results in an estimated 21,000 deaths per year across the African continent and major losses in African countries with livestock-dependent economies [23,24].…”

Robust evidence for bats as reservoir hosts is lacking in most African virus studies: a review and call to optimize sampling and conserve bats

“…Despite their significance, identification of reservoir hosts, transmission mechanisms and conditions, and pathogenicity remain unknown for most viruses. Several human diseases hypothesized to have originated in bats have devastating effects, as exemplified by the 2019-2023 ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and re-emerging Ebola virus outbreaks [4][5][6][7]. Intense, ongoing global surveillance for bat viruses is generating a rapidly growing body of the literature [8].…”

What is the role of occupational physicians in the workplace during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan? A qualitative interview study

“…Preparedness to quickly and accurately assist in maintaining and promoting workers' health in the event of a pandemic after COVID-19 will be necessary. Emerging infectious diseases such as SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and H1N1 (novel influenza) have emerged, pointing to the possibility of more frequent pandemics in the future [31,32]. To date, few reports have assessed in detail the actual functioning of OPs during pandemics including COVID-19, most of the available reports are expert opinions or partial activity records [11,14,[17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29].…”