Two major types of rabies that evolved in different ways

Scientists studying hundreds of genome sequences of the rabies virus at the Institut Pasteur have shown that two major viral types - bat rabies and dog rabies - evolved in different ways. These genetic data provide evolutionary models that may explain transmission between one species and another.

Diseases transferred from vertebrate animals to humans represent a very real threat to human health. However, “we know relatively little about the evolutionary mechanisms that account for such cross-species transmission,” explained Cécile Troupin, from the Institut Pasteur in Paris. The rabies virus is known to have crossed several species barriers. “Studying this virus allowed us to identify the evolutionary models associated with these changes.”

Cécile Troupin and her colleagues compared 321 viral genome sequences that had been collected in 66 countries over 65 years. Their analysis showed very different evolutionary patterns between bat rabies (which affects bats and certain other carnivores) and dog rabies (which affects dogs and wild carnivores) – the latter being responsible for the majority of human rabies cases.

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