Australian bat lyssavirus - information for the public

Summary

In 1996 a new virus was identified in bats in Australia. It was named Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) and it belongs to the lyssavirus family.

There are currently seven types of lyssavirus which are found around the world. Six of these are known to exist in bats but only ABLV is known to occur in Australia.

The best known member of the lyssavirus family is classical rabies which does not occur in Australia but is widespread in Indonesia and Asia and many other areas around the world.

Some of the topics include:

• History of Lyssaviruses
• Types of bats affected by ABLV
• Signs of infection in bats
• How common is ABLV in bats in Australia?
• ABLV infection in other animals
• Human infection with ABLV
• Spread
• Environmental survival
• Finding injured or sick bats
• Reporting suspected ABLV infection in Animals
• Defining potential exposure
• Submission of suspect bats for testing and more