Correction: Mbehang Nguema, P.P., et al. Characterization of ESBL-Producing Enterobacteria from Fruit Bats in an Unprotected Area of Makokou, Gabon. Microorganisms 2020, 8, 138

Bats as flying mammals are potent vectors and natural reservoir hosts for many infectious viruses, bacteria, and fungi, also detected in their excreta such as guano. Accelerated deforestation, urbanization, and anthropization hastily lead to overpopulation of the bats in urban areas allowing easy interaction with other animals, expansion, and emergence of new zoonotic disease outbreaks potentially harmful to humans. Therefore, getting new insights in the microbiome of bat guano from different places represents an imperative for the future. Furthermore, the use of novel high-throughput sequencing technologies allows better insight in guano microbiome and potentially indicated that some species could be typical guano-dwelling members. Bats are well known as a natural reservoir of many zoonotic viruses such as Ebola, Nipah, Marburg, lyssaviruses, rabies, henipaviruses, and many coronaviruses which caused a high number of outbreaks including ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, many bacterial and fungal pathogens were identified as common guano residents. Thus, the presence of multi-drug-resistant bacteria as environmental reservoirs of extended spectrum β-lactamases and carbapenemase-producing strains has been confirmed. Bat guano is the most suitable substrate for fungal reproduction and dissemination, including pathogenic yeasts and keratinophilic and dimorphic human pathogenic fungi known as notorious causative agents of severe endemic mycoses like histoplasmosis and fatal cryptococcosis, especially deadly in immunocompromised individuals. This review provides an overview of bat guano microbiota diversity and the significance of autochthonous and pathogenic taxa for humans and the environment, highlighting better understanding in preventing emerging diseases. Key points& Bat guano as reservoir and source for spreading of autochthonous and pathogenic microbiota & Bat guano vs. novel zoonotic disease outbreaks & Destruction of bat natural habitats urgently demands increased human awareness

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The microbiome of bat guano: for what is this knowledge important?

Dimkić

Fira

Janakiev

et al. 2021

Appl Microbiol Biotechnol

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Evidence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Bats and Its Planetary Health Impact for Surveillance of Zoonotic Spillover Events: A Scoping Review

Devnath

Karah

Graham

et al. 2022

IJERPH

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As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other outbreaks, such as SARS and Ebola, bats are recognized as a critical species for mediating zoonotic infectious disease spillover events. While there is a growing concern of increased antimicrobial resistance (AMR) globally during this pandemic, knowledge of AMR circulating between bats and humans is limited. In this paper, we have reviewed the evidence of AMR in bats and discussed the planetary health aspect of AMR to elucidate how this is associated with the emergence, spread, and persistence of AMR at the human–animal interface. The presence of clinically significant resistant bacteria in bats and wildlife has important implications for zoonotic pandemic surveillance, disease transmission, and treatment modalities. We searched MEDLINE through PubMed and Google Scholar to retrieve relevant studies (n = 38) that provided data on resistant bacteria in bats prior to 30 September 2022. There is substantial variability in the results from studies measuring the prevalence of AMR based on geographic location, bat types, and time. We found all major groups of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria in bats, which are resistant to commonly used antibiotics. The most alarming issue is that recent studies have increasingly identified Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), ESBL producing, and Colistin resistant Enterobacterales in samples from bats. This evidence of superbugs abundant in both humans and wild mammals, such as bats, could facilitate a greater understanding of which specific pathways of exposure should be targeted. We believe that these data will also facilitate future pandemic preparedness as well as global AMR containment during pandemic events and beyond.

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Human-Borne Pathogens: Are They Threatening Wild Great Ape Populations?

Köster¹,

Lapuente

Cruz

et al. 2022

Veterinary Sciences

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Climate change and anthropic activities are the two main factors explaining wild great ape habitat reduction and population decline. The extent to which human-borne infectious diseases are contributing to this trend is still poorly understood. This is due to insufficient or fragmented knowledge on the abundance and distribution of current wild great ape populations, the difficulty obtaining optimal biological samples for diagnostic testing, and the scarcity of pathogen typing data of sufficient quality. This review summarises current information on the most clinically relevant pathogens of viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal nature for which transmission from humans to wild great apes is suspected. After appraising the robustness of available epidemiological and/or molecular typing evidence, we attempt to categorise each pathogen according to its likelihood of truly being of human origin. We further discuss those agents for which anthroponotic transmission is more likely. These include two viral (Human Metapneumovirus and Respiratory Syncytial Virus), one bacterial (diarrhoeagenic Escherichia coli), and two parasitic (Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis) pathogens. Finally, we identify the main drawbacks impairing research on anthroponotic pathogen transmission in wild great apes and propose research lines that may contribute to bridging current knowledge gaps.

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Correction: Mbehang Nguema, P.P., et al. Characterization of ESBL-Producing Enterobacteria from Fruit Bats in an Unprotected Area of Makokou, Gabon. Microorganisms 2020, 8, 138

Abstract: The authors wish to make the following corrections to this paper [...]

Cited by 3 publications

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The microbiome of bat guano: for what is this knowledge important?

The microbiome of bat guano: for what is this knowledge important?

Evidence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Bats and Its Planetary Health Impact for Surveillance of Zoonotic Spillover Events: A Scoping Review

Human-Borne Pathogens: Are They Threatening Wild Great Ape Populations?

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