Natural exposure of bats in Grenada to rabies virus.

: Grenada is a rabies endemic country, where terrestrial rabies is maintained in the small Indian mongoose (). The role of bats in the epidemiology of rabies in Grenada is unknown. A 1974 report described one rabies virus positive Jamaican fruit bat (), and a high seroprevalence in this species. In the current study, the natural exposure to rabies virus in Grenadian bats was re-evaluated. It is postulated that bats serve as a natural rabies reservoir, probably circulating a bat-specific rabies virus variant. : Bats were trapped in 2015 in all six parishes of Grenada using mist- and hand nets. For the detection of rabies virus in brain tissue, the direct fluorescent antibody test (dFAT) and the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used. Serum neutralizing antibodies were determined using the fluorescent antibody virus neutralization test (FAVN). : Brain tissue and sera from 111 insectivorous and frugivorous bats belonging to four species were tested (52 , two , 33 , 24 ). Rabies virus antigen and genomic RNA were not detected in brain tissues. Rabies virus neutralizing antibodies were detected in the sera of eight in four of the six parishes. Bats in Grenada continue to show natural exposure to rabies virus. As rabies virus was not isolated in this study, serology alone is not sufficient to determine the strain of rabies virus circulating in bats in Grenada. : appears to play a role as a reservoir bat species, which is of public health concern in Grenada. Dispersion of bats to neighboring islands is possible and serological bat surveys should be initiated in these neighboring states, especially in those areas that are free of rabies in terrestrial mammals.