Scientists from Colorado State University have found the genetic material of the Zika computer virus in free - ranging African bat . This discovery is the first reported detection of RNA from this virus in bats outside of controlled experiments . As reported inScientific Reports , the animals seem to be infected naturally , or via the bite of septic mosquitos .
The Zika virus is part of theFlaviviridaefamily , which also includes the West Nile and dengue fever virus , which are all mosquito - bear disease in humans so it is crucial to understand how they might spread in animals too .
The team analyzed 198 sample from bats gathered in the Zika Forest and surround areas in Uganda . Four bats , from three dissimilar species , had the Zika virus RNA . Most of the samples predate the major Zika outbreaks , which started in Micronesia and French Polynesia before move tothe Americas .
" Our positivistic samples , which are most tight related to to the Asiatic lineage Zika computer virus , came from bats sample from 2009 to 2013 , " lead author Dr Anna Fagre said in astatement . " This could mean that the Asian origin strain of the computer virus has been present on the African continent longer than we originally thought , or it could mean that there was a average amount of viral evolution and genomic changes that occurred in African line of descent Zika virus that we were not previously mindful of . "
Four bats out of 198 is quite a low-spirited prevalence , suggesting that bats are only accidental hosts . So they might not help to spread the virus and they might not create a reservoir for it . But more inquiry is postulate to affirm if this is indeed the case .
" Given that these results are from a individual cross - sectioned study , it would be risky and previous to draw any conclusion about the environmental science and epidemiology of this pathogen , based on our work , " Fagre sum . " cogitation like this only tell one part of the narrative . "
The team also want to understand how long the fragments of RNA remain in tissue so that they can assess when the bat were actually infected .
" There is always a concern about zoonotic virus , " senior generator Assistant Professor Rebekah Kading explain . " The potential for another outbreak is there and it could go restrained for a while . We know that in the Zika forest , where the virus was first found , the virus is in non - human hierarch . There are still some questions with that as well . I do n’t think Zika computer virus has gone by forever and a day . "
