Detection of hantavirus in bats from remaining rain forest in São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract

BackgroundThe significant biodiversity found in Brazil is a potential for the emergence of new zoonoses. Study in some places of the world suggest of the presence to hantavirus in tissues of bats. Researches of hantavirus in wildlife, out rodents, are very scarce in Brazil. Therefore we decided to investigate in tissues of different species of wild animals captured in the same region where rodents were detected positive for this virus. The present work analyzed ninety-one animals (64 rodents, 19 opossums, and 8 bats) from a region of the Atlantic forest in Biritiba Mirin City, São Paulo State, Brazil. Lungs and kidneys were used for RNA extraction.FindingsThe samples were screened for evidence of hantavirus infection by SYBR-Green-based real-time RT-PCR. Sixteen samples positive were encountered among the wild rodents, bats, and opossums. The detection of hantavirus in the lungs and kidneys of three marsupial species (Micoureus paraguayanus, Monodelphis ihering, and Didelphis aurita) as well in two species of bats (Diphylla ecaudata and Anoura caudifer) is of significance because these new hosts could represent an important virus reservoirs.ConclusionsThe analysis of nucleotide sequences of the partial S segment revealed that these genes were more related to the Araraquara virus strains. This work reinforces the importance of studying hantavirus in different animal species and performing a continued surveillance before this virus spreads in new hosts and generated serious problems in public health.

Viruses in bats and potential spillover to animals and humans

“…Hantaviruses are predominantly rodent-borne pathogens and transmission to humans can lead to severe diseases and death. Species of hantaviruses have been identified in bats from Africa and Asia, expanding the potential reservoirs range and genetic diversity of these viruses [115][116][117][118][119][120]. Hantaan orthohantavirus (HTNV) was isolated from two broadly distributed insectivorous bat species (Eptesicus serotinus and Rhinolophus ferrumequinum) [117].…”

Population Ecology of Hantavirus Rodent Hosts in Southern Brazil

“…35 In Brazil, spillover has been witnessed in many hantavirus genotypes and host species, like ARAV harbored by secondary hosts, such as A. montensis, O. nigripes, Thaptomys nigrita, and Juliomys sp., 36,37 and species of marsupials and bats. 38 Furthermore, JUQV-like and JABV have been reported in secondary …”

Taxonomie des hantavirus et situation des hantaviroses en France

“…Il a été également proposé d'être plus exigeant pour le deuxième critère en demandant une différence en acides aminés entre les différentes espèces de plus de 10% pour la protéine N et de 12% pour la protéine GP (Maes et al 2009 (Figure 1) (Maes et al 2009 ;Jonsson et al 2010 ;Arai et al 2012). Des séquences de nouveaux hantavirus ont été très récemment détectées chez des chauvessouris africaines, américaines et asiatiques (Order Chiroptera) (Sumibcay et al 2012;Weiss et al 2012 ;de Araujo et al 2012 ;Guo et al 2013). L'association étroite entre un hantavirus et son hôte a conduit à proposer un processus de coévolution (ou codivergence) des hantavirus et de leurs hôtes.…”