Identification of novel paramyxoviruses in insectivorous bats of the Southwest Indian Ocean

doi:10.1016/j.virusres.2012.08.022

Virus Research

Volume 170, Issues 1–2, December 2012, Pages 159-163

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2012.08.022 Get rights and content

Abstract

Bats are reservoirs for many emerging zoonotic viruses. In this study, we screened 197 animals from 15 different bat species of the Southwest Indian Ocean for paramyxovirus infection and identified paramyxoviruses in five insectivorous bat-species from the Union of the Comoros (3/66), Mauritius (1/55) and Madagascar (4/76). Viral isolation was possible via cell culture and phylogenetic analysis revealed these viruses clustered in a Morbillivirus-related lineage, with relatively high nucleotide sequence similarity to other recently discovered insectivorous-bat paramyxoviruses but distinct from those known to circulate in frugivorous bats.

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank the Direction du Système des Aires Protégées, Direction Générale de l’Environnement et des Forêts (Madagascar), the National Parks and Conservation Service and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Technology and Natural Resources (Mauritius), and the Center National de Documentation et de Recherche Scientifique (Union of the Comoros) which delivered permits for this research. We also thank Yahaya Ibrahim and Ishaka Saïd for their help for collecting bats and

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The recent identification of Nipah and Hendra henipaviruses as causative agents of acute encephalitis in humans associated with several large outbreaks has drawn particular attention to this viral family and more specifically to their characterization and isolation in bats (Payne, 2017). Since the first identification of a paramyxovirus in a Leschenault's rousette bat (Roussetus leschenaultia) in India in 1971 (Pavri et al., 1971), and the emergence of Nipah and Hendra henipaviruses, numerous other paramyxoviruses have been detected in bats across the world (Wu et al., 2016; Yadav et al., 2016; Kurth et al., 2012; Maganga et al., 2014; Wilkinson et al., 2012; Yuan et al., 2014; Albariño et al., 2014; Amman et al., 2015; Mishra et al., 2019). Most of them, however, are not associated with human diseases.
Bats are recognized as reservoirs of numerous viruses. Among them, paramyxoviruses, for example, Hendra and Nipah viruses, are highly pathogenic to humans. Nothing is known regarding the circulation of this viral family in bats from French Guiana. To search for the presence of paramyxoviruses in this territory, 103 bats of seven different species were sampled and screened using a molecular approach.
Four distinct paramyxovirus sequences were detected from three bat species (Desmodus rotundus, Carollia perspicillata, and Pteronotus alitonus) at high prevalence rates. In D. rotundus, two types of paramyxovirus co-circulate, with most of the bats co-infected.
The phylogenetic analysis of these sequences revealed that three of them were closely related to previously characterized sequences from D. rotundus, C. perspicillata, and P. parnellii from Brazil and Costa Rica. The fourth sequence, identified in D. rotundus, was closely related to the one detected in P. alitonus in French Guiana and to previously described sequences detected in P. parnellii in Costa Rica. All paramyxovirus sequences detected in this study are close to the Jeilongvirus genus.
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¹: These authors contributed equally to this article.

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Short communicationIdentification of novel paramyxoviruses in insectivorous bats of the Southwest Indian Ocean

Abstract

Section snippets

Acknowledgements

Virology

Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases

Virology

Journal of Molecular Epidemiology and Evolutionary Genetics in Infectious Diseases

Current Opinion in Virology

Co-circulation of diverse paramyxoviruses in an urban African fruit bat population

The Journal of General Virology

Henipavirus RNA in African bats

PLoS ONE

Bats host major mammalian paramyxoviruses

Nature Communications

Hendra virus infection dynamics in Australian fruit bats

PLoS ONE

Bats and emerging zoonoses: henipaviruses and SARS

Zoonoses and Public Health

Les Chauves-souris de Madagascar

First record of Coleura (Chiroptera: Emballonuridae) on Madagascar and identificationand diagnosis of members of the genus

Systematics and Biodiversity

Short communication
Identification of novel paramyxoviruses in insectivorous bats of the Southwest Indian Ocean