One of the most significant zoonotic pathogen of bat origin is the rabies virus of the genus Lyssavirus. Lyssaviruses cause fatal encephalitis for which there is no effective treatment . The close association of some people to bats on account of residence, tourism, occupation, the consumption of bats by people in many parts of Nigeria and the public health implication of these remains to be assessed. Thus, the need for surveillance for lyssaviruses in bats is expedient. Surveillance is also particularly important for nonrabies lyssaviruses, because the rabies biologics commercially available do not reliably protect against Lagos bat virus (LBV), Mokola virus (MOKV), and West Caucasian bat virus (WCBV).
Objective
To investigate the evidence of Lyssavirus antigens in the brain tissues of bats and the presence of some lyssaviruses (Lagos bat virus (LBV), Mokola virus (MOKV), Duvenhage virus (DUVV), West Caucasian bat virus (WCBV), Shimoni bat virus (SHBV) and classical rabies virus (CVS) antibodies in the sera of bats from Plateau State, Nigeria.