Alphacoronavirus Detection in Lungs, Liver, and Intestines of Bats from Brazil

Abstract

Bats are flying mammals distributed worldwide known to host several types of Coronavirus (CoV). Since they were reported as the probable source of spillover of highly pathogenic CoV into the human population, investigating the circulation of this virus in bats around the world became of great importance. We analyzed samples from 103 bats from two distinct regions in Brazil. Coronavirus from the Alphacoronavirus genus was detected in 12 animals, 11 from São José do Rio Preto-SP region and 1 from Barreiras-BA region, resulting in a prevalence of 17.18% and 2.56% respectively. The virus was detected not only in intestines but also in lungs and liver. Phylogenetic analysis based on nsP12 genomic region suggests that the sequences group according to host family and sampling location. Studies on the circulation of these viruses in bats remain important to understand the ecology and evolutionary relationship of these pathogens.

Coronaviruses in Bats: A Review for the Americas

“…However, in each study of natural infection the prevalence ranged between 0.9% [ 31 ] and 33.3% [ 45 ]. Coronavirus prevalence rates in bats have been reported to typically range from 3% to 10% [ 30 ], and a global study with more than 12,000 samples reported a rate of 8.6% [ 15 ]. Such estimates may be influenced by factors such as the geographic regions involved, the number of species analyzed in each study, the heterogeneity of the collection sites, the type of samples analyzed, and the number of individuals sampled [ 15 , 30 ].…”

“…Coronavirus prevalence rates in bats have been reported to typically range from 3% to 10% [ 30 ], and a global study with more than 12,000 samples reported a rate of 8.6% [ 15 ]. Such estimates may be influenced by factors such as the geographic regions involved, the number of species analyzed in each study, the heterogeneity of the collection sites, the type of samples analyzed, and the number of individuals sampled [ 15 , 30 ]. This review found that only three of the 25 studies examined samples from more than one country, and studies that examined a greater number of species also recorded a greater number of species positive for coronavirus.…”

“…Until 2020, only one of the viral sequences, Mex-CoV-6, which infects Nyctinomops laticaudatus in Mexico, was closely related to MERS-CoV, a virus that is pathogenic for humans. The foregoing places Mexico as a potential focus of emerging diseases, although since only one of the 187 viral sequences described so far presents this relationship, a low risk of spillover from coronavirus pathogens for humans is suggested in the Americas [ 21 , 30 , 31 ]. However, it is important to note that in experiments conducted in the Americas prior to 2020 that examined the infection of bat cells with pathogenic coronaviruses such as MERS-CoV, HCoV-EMC, and HCoV-NL63, there appeared to be no restrictions for entry of coronavirus, and in some cases, viruses successfully replicated for up to nine days [ 40 , 46 , 47 , 48 ].…”

“…Coronavirus research in bats around the world will continue to be important to characterize and understand the circulation of coronaviruses to identify potential sources of spread or spillover into the human population [30]. Recent phylogenetic data show that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus, which has caused the current COVID-19 pandemic, is not closely related to some Mexican bat coronaviruses (61).…”

Serum proteomics identifies immune pathways and candidate biomarkers of coronavirus infection in wild vampire bats

“…1A). All four vampire bat sequences are novel α-CoVs and displayed the most genetic similarity (94.6−97.3 %) to human CoVs (HCoVs; HCoV-NL63 and HCoV-229E) rather than known bat α-CoVs, including those previously found in other vampire bat colonies and other Neotropical bat species more broadly (Asano et al, 2016; Bittar et al, 2020). Univariate logistic regressions did not find significant (unadjusted) effects of any bat demographics on CoV positivity.…”