Bats, on one hand, have been considered a likely source of highly pathogenic RNA viruses including lyssaviruses Banyard et al., 2011, Ebola virus Leroy et al., 2005, Marburg virus Towner et al. 2009, Nipah virus Epstein et al., 2006, Hendra virus Smith et al., 2011, and coronaviruses CoV e.g., SARS-coronavirus, MERS-coronavirus Hilgenfeld and Peiris, 2013.
Se ha considerado a los murciélagos la principal fuente de agentes virales del tipo ácido ribonucleico RNA con alta patogenicidad como lyssavirus Banyard et al., 2011, virus del Ébola Leroy et al., 2005, virus de Marbug Towner et al. 2009, virus Nipah Epstein et al., 2006, virus Hendra Smith et al., 2011 y coronavirus CoV, por ejemplo: SARS, MERS Hilgenfeld and Peiris, 2013.