No Virological Evidence for an Influenza A ‐ like Virus in <scp>E</scp>uropean Bats

Fereidouni, Sasan; Kwasnitschka, Linda; Buschmann, A.; Müller, Thomas; Freuling, Conrad Martin; Schatz, Juliane; Pikula, Jiří; Banďouchová, Hana; Hoffmann, Ralf; Ohlendorf, B.; Kerth, Gerald; Tong, Suxiang; Donis, Ruben O.; Beer, Martin; Harder, Timm C.

doi:10.1111/zph.12131

Cited by 18 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 5 publications

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“…However, we studied a not closely related bat species from a different continent, and found about 30% antibody detection rate against HA-type H9. Sonntag et al [14] and Fereidouni et al [15] screened Central European bats for genomic traces of influenza virus using generic RT-PCR assays but found no such evidence. For the Central and South American bats influenza virus RNA was detected in a low percentage (0.9%) of the Guatemalan (3/316) and Peruvian (1/110) bats by pan-influenza conventional RT-PCR [2,3].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serological Evidence of Influenza A Viruses in Frugivorous Bats from Africa

et al. 2015

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Bats are likely natural hosts for a range of zoonotic viruses such as Marburg, Ebola, Rabies, as well as for various Corona- and Paramyxoviruses. In 2009/10, researchers discovered RNA of two novel influenza virus subtypes – H17N10 and H18N11 – in Central and South American fruit bats. The identification of bats as possible additional reservoir for influenza A viruses raises questions about the role of this mammalian taxon in influenza A virus ecology and possible public health relevance. As molecular testing can be limited by a short time window in which the virus is present, serological testing provides information about past infections and virus spread in populations after the virus has been cleared. This study aimed at screening available sera from 100 free-ranging, frugivorous bats (Eidolon helvum) sampled in 2009/10 in Ghana, for the presence of antibodies against the complete panel of influenza A haemagglutinin (HA) types ranging from H1 to H18 by means of a protein microarray platform. This technique enables simultaneous serological testing against multiple recombinant HA-types in 5μl of serum. Preliminary results indicate serological evidence against avian influenza subtype H9 in about 30% of the animals screened, with low-level cross-reactivity to phylogenetically closely related subtypes H8 and H12. To our knowledge, this is the first report of serological evidence of influenza A viruses other than H17 and H18 in bats. As avian influenza subtype H9 is associated with human infections, the implications of our findings from a public health context remain to be investigated.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Serological Evidence of Influenza A Viruses in Frugivorous Bats from Africa

et al. 2015

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“…Many factors, such as their gregarious way of life, can facilitate pathogen transmission to other bats and virus persistence in the population. In European bats, only few zoonotic viruses have been discovered [18,33,34] and the overall hazard for humans is comparably low [18]. As some bats take roosts in barns and stables [20] and bat carcasses are found in close proximity to agriculture [35], a risk of sporadic transmission events to livestock animals can be assumed if viruses can be detected.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

No evidence for European bats serving as reservoir for Borna disease virus 1 or other known mammalian orthobornaviruses

Nobach

Herden

2020

Virol J

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Background: The majority of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic in nature and originate from wildlife reservoirs. Borna disease, caused by Borna disease virus 1 (BoDV-1), is an infectious disease affecting mammals, but recently it has also been shown to cause fatal encephalitis in humans. The endemic character of Borna disease points towards a nature-bound reservoir, with only one shrew species identified as reservoir host to date. Bats have been identified as reservoirs of a variety of zoonotic infectious agents. Endogenous borna-like elements in the genome of certain bat species additionally point towards co-evolution of bats with bornaviruses and therefore raise the question whether bats could serve as a potential reservoir of orthobornaviruses. Methods: Frozen brain samples (n = 257) of bats of seven different genera from Germany were investigated by orthobornaviral RT-PCR. Additionally, tissue slides of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded material of a subset of these bats (n = 140) were investigated for orthobornaviral phosphoprotein by immunohistochemistry. Results: The brain samples were tested by RT-PCR without any evidence of orthobornavirus specific amplicons. Immunohistochemistry revealed a faint immunoreaction in 3/140 bats but with an untypical staining pattern for viral antigen. Conclusions: RT-PCR-screening showed no evidence for orthobornaviral RNA in the investigated bats. However, immunohistochemistry results should be investigated further to elucidate whether the reaction might be associated with expressed endogenous bornaviral elements or other so far unknown bornaviruses.

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“…Moreover, it also remains unclear whether bat influenza A-like HL17NL10 and HL18NL11 viruses can be found outside of Central and South America. Based on a reverse transcription PCR (RT-PCR) screen that allows detection of HL17NL10 only, central European bats seem to be free of this influenza A-like virus subtype [ 12 ]. Although classical IAVs can be isolated from bats in rare cases and antibodies against IAVs were also detected in bats [ 13 ], there is no evidence for the infection of New World bats with classical IAVs of the H1 and H5 subtype [ 3 ].…”

Section: Are Bats a Reservoir For Bat Influenza A-like Viruses And CLmentioning

confidence: 99%