As in our previous investigations on the spatial and temporal distribution of hantaviruses in soricomorphs [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] , we relied on the availability of archival tissues. Using the PureLink Micro-to-Midi total RNA purification kit (Invitrogen, San Diego, CA), total RNA was extracted from 168 frozen and 45 ethanol-fixed liver and other visceral tissues of 213 insectivorous bats (representing 13 genera), collected during May 1981 to June 2011 in Asia, Africa and the Americas (Table 1) . cDNA was then prepared with the SuperScript III First-Strand Synthesis System (Invitrogen) using random hexamers, and PCR was performed as described previously, using an extensive panel of oligonucleotide primers, designed on conserved genomic sequences of rodentand soricomorph-borne hantaviruses [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] 19, 20] . Each reaction mixture contained 250 μ dNTP, 2 mM MgCl 2 , 1 U AmpliTaq polymerase (Roche, Basel, Switzerland) and 0.25 μ oligonucleotide primers. Initial denaturation at 94°C for 5 min was followed by two cycles each of denaturation at 94°C for 40 s, two-degree step-down annealing from 48°C to 38°C for 40 s, and elongation at 72°C for 1 min or 1 min 20 s, then 32 cycles of denaturation at 94°C for 40 s, annealing at 42°C for 40 s, and elongation at 72°C for 1 min, in a GeneAmp PCR 9700 thermal cycler (Perkin-Elmer, Waltham, MA). Amplicons were purified using the QIAQuick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen, Hilden, Germany), and DNA sequencing was performed using an ABI Prism 377XL Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems, Foster City, CA).