Bat rabies surveillance in the former Soviet Union

More than 3,000 bats were examined for lyssaviruses in the territory of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) over the past 41 years (1964-2004). European bat lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1) was registered in the Ukraine and the European part of Russia. Lyssaviruses Aravan (ARAV, Kyrgyzstan, 1991), Khujand (KHUV, Tajikistan, 2001), Irkut (IRKV, Irkutsk region, 2002) and West Caucasian Bat virus (WCBV, Krasnodar region, 2002) were proposed as new lyssavirus genotypes. All reports on rabies virus (RABV; serotype/genotype 1) isolation from bats to date are questionable and must be corroborated. Two human rabies cases of bat origin were registered in the town of Voroshilovgrad, the Ukraine (1977) and the town of Belgorod, Russia (1985). The second case was confirmed as EBLV-1, whereas the first case was not identified. At least five lyssaviruses, different from RABV and from each other, were recognized in the territory of the FSU, and their potential significance for veterinary and public health should not be underestimated.