Project

Bats have been described as one of the most important reservoirs for some of the most severe and lethal viruses, notably RNA viruses belonging to the order Mononegavirales that include Lyssaviruses, and so the rabies virus (RABV). Rabies is a zoonotic and neglected disease transmitted by contaminated animals’ saliva. Such an infection always leads to the death after the apparition of neurological symptoms. Every mammalian species is sensible to this infection, and dogs are its main vector all over the world. South America constitutes an exception, because it’s the common vampire bat Desmodus rotundus, a blood drinker, that represents the main vector and reservoir of RABV in this region. Although Lyssaviruses are highly pathogenic in mammalians species, they appear asymptomatic in their natural flying hosts.
The main objective of this project is to better understand the mechanisms of infection by Lyssavirus, including RABV, and the antiviral response in bats. To do so, the kinetics of infection with 2 different lyssavirus will be analysed in an established vampire bat cell line