title: Identification of GBV-D, a novel GB-like flavivirus from old world frugivorous bats (Pteropus giganteus) in Bangladesh.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Conservation Medicine Program, Wildlife Trust, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Jonathan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.forename: Phenix-Lan
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Quan
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Briese
authors.forename: Craig
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Street
authors.forename: Omar
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Jabado
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Conlan
authors.forename: Shahneaz
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ali Khan
authors.forename: Dawn
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Verdugo
authors.forename: M Jahangir
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Hossain
authors.forename: Stephen K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Hutchison
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Egholm
authors.forename: Stephen P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Luby
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Daszak
authors.forename: W Ian
authors.initials: WI
authors.lastname: Lipkin
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D004279:DNA, Viral