Please cite as follows:Ithete, N. L. et al. 2013. Close relative of human Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus in bat, South Africa. Emerg Infect Dis, 19(10):1697-1699, doi:10.3201/eid1910.130946.The original publication is available at http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/We now report the identification of a South Africa bat derived CoV that has an even closer phylogenetic relationship with MERS-CoV.European Union FP7 projects EMPE- RIE (contract number 223498) and ANTIGONE (contract number 278976); German Research Foundation (DFG grant DR 772/3-1, KA1241/18-1, to C.D.); National Health Laboratory Service Research Trust (to W.P.); South African National Research Foundation (to W.P.)Publishers' Versio

Humans have shared buildings with bats for thousands of years, probably as early as first humans built primitive huts. Indeed, many bat species can be defined as synanthropic, i.e., they have a strong ecological association with humans. Bats have been observed using buildings as roosting and foraging sites, temporary shelters, for reproduction and hibernation. A synanthropic lifestyle may result in direct fitness benefits owing to energetic advantages in warmer roosts, which may ultimately lead to more rapid gestation and faster development of juveniles, or by being less exposed to natural predators in urban environments. All these benefits may allow bats to use buildings as stepping stones to exploit habitats otherwise devoid of roosting structures and may even lead to the expansion of geographic ranges. Yet, the coexistence with humans also comes with some risks. Bats may be exposed to chemical pollutants, particularly preservation chemicals used on lumber or during pest control measures. Bats may also be at risk of direct persecution or they may die accidently if trapped within buildings. In general, eviction of bats from buildings should follow the general rule of avoidance–mitigation–compensation. When considering conservation measures for synanthropic bats, it is most important to assess the role of the building for different life stages of bats. Construction work at buildings should be conducted in a manner that minimizes disturbance of bats. Artificial roosts can replace lost roosts, yet bats will often not accept alternative roosts. Demographic changes in human populations may lead to the abandonment of buildings, for example, in rural areas and to increased conflicts in urban areas when old buildings are replaced by new buildings or when previously unoccupied space in buildings is renovated. We advocate maintenance and enhancement of roosts for synanthropic bats, in addition to outreach and education campaigns, to improve the tolerance of humans for synanthropic bats.

The genus Myotis is comprised of about 100 species that are unequally distributed between the Northern (81% of the species) and the Southern hemisphere (19% of the species). Only eight species of Myotis occur in the Ethiopian region, but this is the only biogeographic region with representatives of all four classical subgenera, suggesting a diverse assemblage of morphotypes. We used sequences of a mitochondrial DNA gene (cyt b) to investigate the evolution and the phylogenetic position of seven of the eight Ethiopian species, and compared them to a broad sampling of Myotis from the World and of other vespertilionids. Phylogenetic reconstruction was based on 91 complete sequences representing 79 species of bats. The two endemic southern African species of the subgenus Cistugo were not placed within the genus Myotis, but were basal to the vespertilionid radiation, as suggested by earlier work based on karyology. The remaining Ethiopian species formed a strong monophyletic clade within Myotis, further stress...

Cockburn, J., M. Rouget, R. Slotow, D. Roberts, R. Boon, E. Douwes, S. O’Donoghue, C. T. Downs, S. Mukherjee, W. Musakwa, O. Mutanga, T. Mwabvu, J. Odindi, A. Odindo, Ş. Procheş, S. Ramdhani, J. Ray-Mukherjee, Sershen, M. C. Schoeman, A. J. Smit, E. Wale, and S. Willows-Munro. 2016. How to build science-action partnerships for local land-use planning and management: lessons from Durban, South Africa. Ecology and Society 21(1):28.

The Natal long-fingered bat (Miniopterus natalensis) and lesser long-fingered bat (M. fraterculus) are morphologically almost indistinguishable and o