Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

This site is currently in beta, and your feedback is helping shape its ongoing development.

Experimental infection of Mexican free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) with SARS-CoV-2

Published by U.S. Geological Survey | Department of the Interior | Metadata Last Checked: January 27, 2026 | Last Modified: 2022-07-20T00:00:00Z
We experimentally challenged wild Mexican free-tailed bats (TABR) with SARS-CoV-2 to determine the susceptibility, reservoir potential, and population impacts of infection in this species. Of nine bats oronasally inoculated with SARS-CoV-2, five became infected and orally excreted moderate amounts of virus for up to 18 days post inoculation. These five subjects all seroconverted and cleared the virus before the end of the study with no obvious clinical signs of disease. We additionally found no evidence of viral transmission to uninoculated subjects. These results indicate that while TABR are susceptible to SARS-CoV-2 infection, infection of wild populations of TABR would not likely cause mortality.

Find Related Datasets

Click any tag below to search for similar datasets

data.gov

An official website of the GSA's Technology Transformation Services

Looking for U.S. government information and services?
Visit USA.gov