Dietrich, MurielMuhldorfer, KristinTortosa, PabloMarkotter, Wanda2016-04-222016-04-222015-11-12Dietrich M, Mühldorfer K, Tortosa P, Markotter W (2015) Leptospira and Bats: Story of an Emerging Friendship. PLoS Pathog 11(11): e1005176. DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1005176.1553-7366 (print)1553-7374 (online)10.1371/journal.ppat.1005176http://hdl.handle.net/2263/52106A growing number of recent studies have highlighted bats as a reservoir for Leptospira bacteria, pointing out the potential role of bats in the epidemiology of the most widespread zoonotic disease in the world [1]. Because leptospirosis is a largely neglected disease, a number of unanswered questions remain about the ecology and evolution of Leptospira, especially those associated with bats. Here we summarize what has been recently learned about this emerging but enigmatic host–pathogen association. We show how this system can provide exciting new opportunities to obtain insights into the evolutionary ecology of bat-borne pathogens and propose future directions to disentangle the role of bats in human leptospirosis.en© 2015 Dietrich et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.BatsLeptospira bacteriaPathogen associationHuman leptospirosisArticle