Naturally occurring rabies virus and neutralizing antibody in two species of insectivorous bats of new york state.

Seven colonies of Eptesicus fuscus , the big brown bat, and five colonies of Myotis lucifugus , the little brown bat, in New York State were sampled for rabies virus and virus-neutralizing antibody. Eight of 278 E. fuscus were found to have virus, while 18 of 187 had antibody titers of ≥1:8. One of 333 M. lucifugus yielded virus, while three of 127 had antibody. These data demonstrate the presence of rabies virus as well as immunity to rabies in some insectivorous bats of New York State. Evaluation of these findings in relation to the epizootiology of the disease in bats requires further investigation.