Bats are being increasingly recognized as an important reservoir of zoonotic viruses of different families, including SARS coronavirus, Nipah virus, Hendra virus and Ebola virus. Several recent studies hypothesized that bats, an ancient group of flying mammals, are the major reservoir of several important RNA virus families from which other mammalian viruses of livestock and humans were derived. Although this hypothesis needs further investigation, the premise that bats carry a large number of viruses is commonly accepted. The question of whether bats have unique biological features making them ideal reservoir hosts has been the subject of several recent reviews. In this review, we will focus on the public health implications of bat derived zoonotic viral disease outbreaks, examine the drivers and risk factors of past disease outbreaks and outline research directions for better control of future disease events.