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Rabies virus variants closely related to variants present in White-tufted marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) have been detected in bats in CearĂ¡ state, Northeast Brazil.

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Bat genes found to be key against COVID, cancer

Bats have acquired remarkable traits throughout their evolution. They're the only mammals that can fly, and they live much longer than other animals their size. But perhaps most impressive is their robust immune system. It ...

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No new Nipah cases detected in India: WHO

No new cases of Nipah virus have been detected in India since September 15, the World Health Organization said Tuesday, following an outbreak earlier in the month that caused two deaths.

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Is the first cure for advanced rabies near?

Rabies virus is incurable and almost always fatal once it has invaded the central nervous system, with the victim doomed to suffer a horrible death.

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India's Nipah virus outbreak: what do we know so far?

Authorities in India are scrambling to contain a rare outbreak of Nipah, a virus spread from animals to humans that causes deadly fever with a high mortality rate.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

India imposes curbs after two die of Nipah virus

India has curbed public gatherings and shut some schools in the southern state of Kerala after two people died of Nipah, a virus from bats or pigs that causes deadly fever, officials said Thursday.

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Bat

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Bats are mammals in the order Chiroptera (pronounced /kaɪˈrɒptərə/). The forelimbs of bats are developed as wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of flight (opposed to other mammals, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums and colugos, that glide only for a distance). Bats do not flap arms like birds, instead they flap spread out hands where their fingers are very long and covered with a thin membrane or patagium. Chiroptera comes from two Greek words cheir (χειρ) "hand" and pteron (πτερον) "wing."

There is an estimated total of about 1,100 species worldwide, which is about 20 percent of all classified mammal species. About 70 percent of bats are insectivores. Most of the rest are frugivores, with a few species being carnivorous. Bats are present throughout most of the world and perform a vital ecological role by pollinating flowers, and eat various plants to dispere their seeds. Many tropical plants depend for their seeds to be distributed entirely by bats.

Bats range in size from Kitti's Hog-nosed Bat measuring 29–33 mm (1.14–1.30 in) in length and 2 g (0.07 oz) in mass, to the Giant golden-crowned flying fox which has a wing span of 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) and weighs approximately 1.2 kg (3 lb).

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