Cross-scale assessment of environmental variation on RABV reservoir Desmodus rotundus

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dc.contributor.authorMcClure, Paige Van de Vuursten
dc.contributor.committeechairEscobar Quinonez, Luis E.en
dc.contributor.committeememberHallerman, Eric M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberGohlke, Julia M.en
dc.contributor.committeememberBertke, Andrea S.en
dc.contributor.committeememberRist, Cassidyen
dc.contributor.departmentGraduate Schoolen
dc.date.accessioned2025-01-15T09:01:10Zen
dc.date.available2025-01-15T09:01:10Zen
dc.date.issued2025-01-14en
dc.description.abstractAnthropogenic impacts on the natural world are a topic of continued assessment and scientific concern. Human activity has been shown to impact multiple ecological components, with changes to disease dynamics caused by human activity being linked to disease emergence and pandemic risk. In Latin America, the rabies virus (RABV) is regularly transmitted by the common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus). Rabies virus is extremely lethal, killing nearly 100% of infected individuals. Desmodus rotundus is a sanguivorous (blood-feeding) species that can easily transmit RABV to their prey during normal feeding behaviors, thereby acting as a wildlife reservoir and known host for the virus. Previous research has found that vampire bat-transmitted RABV has increased in prevalence and geographic distribution in association with changes to landscape and climate. As such, the D. rotundus-RABV disease system exemplifies many of the factors identified as foundational to the broader elucidation of disease emergence from pathogens of wildlife origin. This dissertation demonstrated how environmental variation associated with human activity may impact D. rotundus at the population level, the impacts of landscape factors on spillover transmission risk, and the broader climatic drivers of host distribution across a continent. In doing so, this cross-scale assessment filled key research gaps in our current understanding of emerging infectious diseases of bat origin.en
dc.description.abstractgeneralHuman activity has had and will continue to have large impacts upon the natural world. Our choices of how to use the land and our contribution to changing climate can have negative impacts upon the health of ecosystems and animals. By changing where certain animals can live, our actions can increase the risk of new pathogens being transmitted to other animal species, or even to humans. The common vampire bat (Desmodus rotundus) is an example of one such animal. Vampire bats feed upon the blood of other mammals by biting. The nature of their feeding makes them very effective transmitters of the rabies virus, which is nearly 100% fatal. In Latin America, vampire bats regularly transmit rabies virus to livestock, which causes negative impacts to animal welfare, public health, and the economy. Previous research has found that the impact of vampire bat-transmitted rabies virus has increased because of changes to the landscape and climate. As such, the vampire bat-rabies disease system provides a study system through which we can understand how human activity impacts the spread of wildlife pathogens. This dissertation assessed how environmental variation associated with human activity impacts the population genetics of vampire bats, what factors increase or decrease rabies virus transmission from vampire bats to other species, and how changes to climate may shape the future distribution of vampire bats across the Americas. In doing so, this research answered many of the questions that were previously unanswered about this bat-disease system, and potentially others wildlife-mediated systems.en
dc.description.degreeDoctor of Philosophyen
dc.format.mediumETDen
dc.identifier.othervt_gsexam:41797en
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10919/124195en
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherVirginia Techen
dc.rightsCreative Commons Attribution 4.0 Internationalen
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/en
dc.subjectEcological Niche Modelingen
dc.subjectSpilloveren
dc.subjectClimate Changeen
dc.subjectRABVen
dc.subjectDesmodus rotundusen
dc.subjectPopulation Geneticsen
dc.titleCross-scale assessment of environmental variation on RABV reservoir Desmodus rotundusen
dc.typeDissertationen
thesis.degree.disciplineTranslational Biology, Medicine and Healthen
thesis.degree.grantorVirginia Polytechnic Institute and State Universityen
thesis.degree.leveldoctoralen
thesis.degree.nameDoctor of Philosophyen

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