Co-circulation of diverse paramyxoviruses in an urban African fruit bat population.
Bats constitute a reservoir of zoonotic infections and some bat paramyxoviruses are capable of cross-species transmission, often with fatal consequences. Determining the level of viral diversity in reservoir populations is fundamental to understanding and predicting viral emergence. This is particularly relevant for RNA viruses where the adaptive mutations required for cross-species transmission can be present in the reservoir host. We report the use of non-invasively collected, pooled, neat urine samples as a robust sample type for investigating paramyxoviruses in bat populations. Using consensus PCR assays we have detected a high incidence and genetic diversity of novel paramyxoviruses in an urban fruit bat population over a short period of time. This may suggest a similarly unique relationship between bats and the members of the family Paramyxoviridae as proposed for some other viral families. Additionally, the high rate of bat-human contact at the study site calls for the zoonotic potential of the detected viruses to be investigated further.
Cambridge Infectious Diseases Consortium, University of Cambridge, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK.|Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK.
K S
KS
Baker
CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratories, Portarlington Road, East Geelong, VIC 3219, Australia.
S
S
Todd
CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratories, Portarlington Road, East Geelong, VIC 3219, Australia.
G
G
Marsh
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK.
A
A
Fernandez-Loras
Wildlife Division of the Forestry Commission, Accra, Ghana.
R
R
Suu-Ire
Cambridge Infectious Diseases Consortium, University of Cambridge, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK.
J L N
JLN
Wood
CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratories, Portarlington Road, East Geelong, VIC 3219, Australia.
L F
LF
Wang
University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research, Institute of Infection, Immunity and Inflammation, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, Garscube Estate, Bearsden Road, Glasgow G61 1QH, UK.
P R
PR
Murcia
Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London NW1 4RY, UK.
A A
AA
Cunningham
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D014644:Genetic Variation / Q000235:genetics; D005869:Ghana; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018184:Paramyxoviridae Infections / Q000635:transmission* / Q000821:virology; D018098:Paramyxovirinae / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D010802:Phylogeny; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D014505:Urban Population