title: Novel, potentially zoonotic paramyxoviruses from the African straw-colored fruit bat Eidolon helvum.
abstract: Bats carry a variety of paramyxoviruses that impact human and domestic animal health when spillover occurs. Recent studies have shown a great diversity of paramyxoviruses in an urban-roosting population of straw-colored fruit bats in Ghana. Here, we investigate this further through virus isolation and describe two novel rubulaviruses: Achimota virus 1 (AchPV1) and Achimota virus 2 (AchPV2). The viruses form a phylogenetic cluster with each other and other bat-derived rubulaviruses, such as Tuhoko viruses, Menangle virus, and Tioman virus. We developed AchPV1- and AchPV2-specific serological assays and found evidence of infection with both viruses in Eidolon helvum across sub-Saharan Africa and on islands in the Gulf of Guinea. Longitudinal sampling of E. helvum indicates virus persistence within fruit bat populations and suggests spread of AchPVs via horizontal transmission. We also detected possible serological evidence of human infection with AchPV2 in Ghana and Tanzania. It is likely that clinically significant zoonotic spillover of chiropteran paramyxoviruses could be missed throughout much of Africa where health surveillance and diagnostics are poor and comorbidities, such as infection with HIV or Plasmodium sp., are common.
authors.affiliation: Disease Dynamics Unit, University of Cambridge, Department of Veterinary Medicine, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. kf281@cam.ac.uk
authors.forename: Kate S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Shawn
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Todd
authors.forename: Glenn A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Crameri
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barr
authors.forename: Alexandra O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Kamins
authors.forename: Alison J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Peel
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: David T S
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Hayman
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Nadjm
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mtove
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Amos
authors.forename: Hugh
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Reyburn
authors.forename: Edward
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nyarko
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Suu-Ire
authors.forename: Pablo R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Murcia
authors.forename: Andrew A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: James L N
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Wood
authors.forename: Lin-Fa
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000349:Africa / Q000453:epidemiology; D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics; D019213:Rubulavirus / Q000145:classification* / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D019351:Rubulavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology*; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000453:epidemiology*
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral