[trailmaster]

Originally Posted by tmee2000

It is dangerous. At least three people have died in Australia after having been bitten or scratched by them.

Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) is closely related to rabies virus. ABLV was detected in a bat found in the Melbourne suburb of Kew in July 2011. The discovery prompted health authorities to issue warnings to Melbourne residents not to touch the creatures.
ABLV was confirmed in two horses on Queensland's Darling Downs in May 2013. Both horses were euthanased when their condition deteriorated despite treatment and the attending veterinarian performed a post mortem examination obtaining samples that allowed for the laboratory diagnosis. The property was then quarantined. Three dogs and the four horses in closest contact received post exposure prophylaxis as did all nine in-contact people. The virus was isolated and identified as the insectivorous bat strain. These cases have prompted reconsideration of the potential spillover of ABLV into domestic animal species. Veterinarians are urged to consider ABLV as a differential diagnosis in cases of progressive generalized neurological disease.

There have been three confirmed cases of ABLV in humans, all of them fatal.
They also carry Hendra virus, which is lethal to horses, Nipah virus, and Menangle virus.

I stand corrected. Maybe only the fruit bats of South and Central America are free of these viruses.