Bats host major mammalian paramyxoviruses

Abstract

The large virus family Paramyxoviridae includes some of the most significant human and livestock viruses, such as measles-, distemper-, mumps-, parainfluenza-, Newcastle disease-, respiratory syncytial virus and metapneumoviruses. Here we identify an estimated 66 new paramyxoviruses in a worldwide sample of 119 bat and rodent species (9,278 individuals). Major discoveries include evidence of an origin of Hendra- and Nipah virus in Africa, identification of a bat virus conspecific with the human mumps virus, detection of close relatives of respiratory syncytial virus, mouse pneumonia- and canine distemper virus in bats, as well as direct evidence of Sendai virus in rodents. Phylogenetic reconstruction of host associations suggests a predominance of host switches from bats to other mammals and birds. Hypothesis tests in a maximum likelihood framework permit the phylogenetic placement of bats as tentative hosts at ancestral nodes to both the major Paramyxoviridae subfamilies (Paramyxovirinae and Pneumovirinae). Future attempts to predict the emergence of novel paramyxoviruses in humans and livestock will have to rely fundamentally on these data.

Future research to underpin successful peste des petits ruminants virus (PPRV) eradication

“…Indeed, serological responses to CDV were described recently in Tanzanian cattle [71]. In addition, a new spectrum of previously uncharacterized morbilliviruses has been identified in global bat and rodent populations [87], as well as a specific new morbillivirus in domestic cats [88]. There is therefore a critical requirement to develop novel approaches for assessing the risk of such transmission events taking place, for example by defining the capacity for animal morbilliviruses to interact with receptors from target species and by assessing the degree of cross-protection afforded by neutralizing antibodies.…”

Isolation of multiple novel paramyxoviruses from pteropid bat urine

“…MenPV was isolated from the 2009 Cedar Grove collection and reported previously . MenPV is another known bat rubulavirus, closely related to TioPV, and was found to be the aetiological agent of a disease in pigs in Phylogenetic analysis based on the 530 bp fragment of the large (L) gene obtained using pan-Paramyxovirinae primers (Tong et al, 2008), which is the most used sequence for paramyxovirus phylogeny studies (Drexler et al, 2012), indicated that three of the four newly isolated bat rubulaviruses clustered with the two previously identified Asian bat viruses, MenPV and TioPV. However, the fourth newly isolated virus, HerPV, was more closely related to the Achimota virus 2 isolated from bats in Ghana, Africa (Fig.…”

Virus discovery in bats

“…This involves amplifying a region of the genome that is highly conserved across that viral family using Under the Microscope degenerate primers 23,24 . In one study, this approach was employed to detect sequences of 66 new viruses from the Paramyxoviridae family from bats and rodents around the world 25 . In this example, pan-viral family PCR detected paramyxovirus sequences, including in bats that yielded no positive results when their pooled serum samples were analysed by next generation sequencing.…”

“…In this example, pan-viral family PCR detected paramyxovirus sequences, including in bats that yielded no positive results when their pooled serum samples were analysed by next generation sequencing. However, it is possible that the negative results by next generation sequencing were due to low concentrations of virus in the blood rather than significantly lower sensitivity 25 . The primers utilised by pan-viral family PCR can only detect viruses that are related to previously identified viruses.…”

“…The primers utilised by pan-viral family PCR can only detect viruses that are related to previously identified viruses. In an attempt to reduce the bias introduced by sequence specific primers, multiple different primer sets and methods can be utilised for the same samples 25 . Although this approach has led to the discovery of many novel viruses, other methods provide a hypothesis-free approach.…”