非洲经常在人类中爆发新出现的疾病,蝙蝠通常被提议作为人畜共患病原体宿主。我们全面回顾了1978年至2020年之间发表的论文中的病毒蝙蝠发现,以评估非洲蝙蝠是导致人类疾病的病毒的宿主和/或桥接宿主的证据。我们提供了162篇论文(1322篇)的数据,其中包括(1)在蝙蝠科和该大陆采样的蝙蝠数量和种类的原始发现,(2)蝙蝠是如何被选入研究的,(3)如果蝙蝠是最终取样的,(4)哪些类型的生态数据,如果有的话,记录和(5)检测到哪些病毒以及使用什么方法。我们提出了一种通过证据类型和质量来评估假定的病毒-宿主关系的方案,使用正马尔堡病毒和正马尔堡病毒的对比证据为例。我们回顾了所有162篇论文的摘要和讨论中的措辞,识别关键框架术语,这些是如何指代发现的,以及它们如何有助于人们对蝙蝠的信仰。我们讨论了科学研究传播对公众认知的影响,并强调需要采取最大程度地减少人与蝙蝠冲突并支持蝙蝠保护的策略。最后,我们为改善病毒学研究元数据的最佳实践提出建议.
Africa experiences frequent emerging disease outbreaks among humans, with bats often proposed as zoonotic pathogen hosts. We comprehensively reviewed virus-bat findings from papers published between 1978 and 2020 to evaluate the evidence that African bats are reservoir and/or bridging hosts for viruses that cause human disease. We present data from 162 papers (of 1322) with original findings on (1) numbers and species of bats sampled across bat families and the continent, (2) how bats were selected for study inclusion, (3) if bats were terminally sampled, (4) what types of ecological data, if any, were recorded and (5) which viruses were detected and with what methodology. We propose a scheme for evaluating presumed virus-host relationships by evidence type and quality, using the contrasting available evidence for Orthoebolavirus versus Orthomarburgvirus as an example. We review the wording in abstracts and discussions of all 162 papers, identifying key framing terms, how these refer to findings, and how they might contribute to people\'s beliefs about bats. We discuss the impact of scientific research communication on public perception and emphasize the need for strategies that minimize human-bat conflict and support bat conservation. Finally, we make recommendations for best practices that will improve virological study metadata.