Abstract

Endemic and newly emerging pathogens of wildlife threaten biodiversity, human health and socio-economic growth. Efforts to control such pathogens often rely on interventions such as vaccination or culling, which are perceived to offer the possibility of pathogen elimination, thereby providing a cost-efficient alternative to mass vaccination of humans or domestic animals. Yet, interventions in reservoir are notoriously challenging and controversial due to our limited understanding of pathogen persistence in complex wildlife systems. In Latin America, vampire bat–transmitted rabies virus represents a key example of how such uncertainty can impede efforts to prevent cross-species transmission. Despite decades of bat culling programmes, agricultural and human health losses remain surprisingly high. I will discuss results from longitudinal mark-recapture studies of vampire bats in Peru, host and virus phylogenetic inference and mathematical models that have begun to identify how understanding mechanisms of viral persistence can inform efforts at disease prevention and control.