Wibbelt G, Kurth A, Yasmum N, Bannert M, Nagel S, Nitsche A, Ehlers B (2007): Discovery of herpesviruses in bats
J. Gen. Virol. 88 (10): 2651-2655.

Seven novel gammaherpesviruses (GHV) and one novel betaherpesvirus were discovered in  seven different European bat species (Order Chiroptera, family Vespertilionidae) with a pan-herpesvirus PCR assay, targeting the DNA polymerase (DPOL) gene. The sequences of six bat GHV were similarly related to members of the gamma­herpesvirus genera Percavirus and Rhadinovirus. The seventh GHV was related to the porcine lymphotropic herpesvirus 1 (genus Macavirus). The betaherpesvirus appeared to be a distant relative of human cytomegalovirus. For three bat GHV a 3.5 kbp locus was amplified and sequenced, spanning part of the glycoprotein B gene and the majority of the DPOL gene. In phylogenetic analysis, the three bat GHV formed a separate clade with similar distance to the Percavirus and Rhadinovirus clades. These novel viruses are the first herpesviruses to be described in bats.