title: Long-term survival of an urban fruit bat seropositive for Ebola and Lagos bat viruses.
abstract: Ebolaviruses (EBOV) (family Filoviridae) cause viral hemorrhagic fevers in humans and non-human primates when they spill over from their wildlife reservoir hosts with case fatality rates of up to 90%. Fruit bats may act as reservoirs of the Filoviridae. The migratory fruit bat, Eidolon helvum, is common across sub-Saharan Africa and lives in large colonies, often situated in cities. We screened sera from 262 E. helvum using indirect fluorescent tests for antibodies against EBOV subtype Zaire. We detected a seropositive bat from Accra, Ghana, and confirmed this using western blot analysis. The bat was also seropositive for Lagos bat virus, a Lyssavirus, by virus neutralization test. The bat was fitted with a radio transmitter and was last detected in Accra 13 months after release post-sampling, demonstrating long-term survival. Antibodies to filoviruses have not been previously demonstrated in E. helvum. Radio-telemetry data demonstrates long-term survival of an individual bat following exposure to viruses of families that can be highly pathogenic to other mammal species. Because E. helvum typically lives in large urban colonies and is a source of bushmeat in some regions, further studies should determine if this species forms a reservoir for EBOV from which spillover infections into the human population may occur.
authors.affiliation: Cambridge Infectious Diseases Consortium, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK. dtsh2@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: David T S
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Hayman
authors.forename: Petra
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Emmerich
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Lin-Fa
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Suu-Ire
authors.forename: Anthony R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Fooks
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: James L N
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wood
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000097:blood* / Q000821:virology*; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D005260:Female; D018114:Lyssavirus / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D008297:Male; D009698:Nucleoproteins / Q000378:metabolism; D011247:Pregnancy; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013686:Telemetry; D013997:Time Factors; D014764:Viral Proteins / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D009698:Nucleoproteins; D014764:Viral Proteins