Identification of GBV-D, a novel GB-like flavivirus from old world frugivorous bats (Pteropus giganteus) in Bangladesh.
Bats are reservoirs for a wide range of zoonotic agents including lyssa-, henipah-, SARS-like corona-, Marburg-, Ebola-, and astroviruses. In an effort to survey for the presence of other infectious agents, known and unknown, we screened sera from 16 Pteropus giganteus bats from Faridpur, Bangladesh, using high-throughput pyrosequencing. Sequence analyses indicated the presence of a previously undescribed virus that has approximately 50% identity at the amino acid level to GB virus A and C (GBV-A and -C). Viral nucleic acid was present in 5 of 98 sera (5%) from a single colony of free-ranging bats. Infection was not associated with evidence of hepatitis or hepatic dysfunction. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that this first GBV-like flavivirus reported in bats constitutes a distinct species within the Flaviviridae family and is ancestral to the GBV-A and -C virus clades.
Epstein
Jonathan H
JH
Conservation Medicine Program, Wildlife Trust, New York, New York, United States of America.
Quan
Phenix-Lan
PL
Briese
Thomas
T
Street
Craig
C
Jabado
Omar
O
Conlan
Sean
S
Ali Khan
Shahneaz
S
Verdugo
Dawn
D
Hossain
M Jahangir
MJ
Hutchison
Stephen K
SK
Egholm
Michael
M
Luby
Stephen P
SP
Daszak
Peter
P
Lipkin
W Ian
WI
D000818:Animals; D001459:Bangladesh; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000032:analysis; D018067:Flaviviridae / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics; D029405:GB virus A / Q000235:genetics; D029407:GB virus C / Q000235:genetics; D010802:Phylogeny; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid
D004279:DNA, Viral