Comprising approximately 20% of known mammalian species, bats are abundant throughout the world1. In recent years, bats have been shown to be the reservoir host for many highly pathogenic viruses, leading to increased attempts to identify other zoonotic bat-borne viruses. These efforts have led to the discovery of over 200 viruses in bats and many more viral nucleic acid sequences from 27 different viral families2,3 (Table 1). Over half of the world’s recently emerged infectious diseases originated in wildlife15, with the genetic diversity of viruses greater in bats than in any other animal16. As humans continue to encroach on the habitat of bats, the risk of spillover of potentially zoonotic viruses is also continuing to increase. Therefore, the surveillance of bats and discovery of novel pathogens is necessary to prepare for these spillover events17.