title: Experimental infection of Artibeus intermedius bats with serotype-2 dengue virus.
abstract: Dengue fever is caused by a flavivirus that primarily infects humans and Aedes sp. mosquitoes. However, viral replication in wild animals other than non-human primates has been scarcely studied. In this report, the susceptibility of Artibeus intermedius frugivorous bat to serotype-2 dengue virus (DENV-2) infection was tested. Twenty-three bats were intraperitoneally inoculated with different viral loads of DENV-2 (New Guinea-C strain). Forty-three percent of the infected bats developed bruises on the chest or on the wings. Histological analyses showed structural alterations in the spleen and bleeding in liver and intestine, but the virus was not detected by RT-PCR in any of the analyzed tissues, and it was found in only one bat (kidney) by semi-nested RT-PCR. In sera, the viral RNA was detected by semi-nested RT-PCR in 39% of bats, but only 8% of bats seroconverted. Overall, these data indicate that DENV-2 replicates poorly in these bats, suggesting they are not suitable hosts to this virus.
authors: Unidad de Investigación Médica en Inmunología, Coordinación de Investigación Médica, Hospital de Pediatría, Centro Médico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Av. Cuauhtémoc 330, Col. Doctores, 06720, D.F., México.
authors: L
authors: L
authors: Perea-Martínez
authors: H N
authors: HN
authors: Moreno-Sandoval
authors: M M
authors: MM
authors: Moreno-Altamirano
authors: M
authors: M
authors: Salas-Rojas
authors: M M
authors: MM
authors: García-Flores
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Aréchiga-Ceballos
authors: N
authors: N
authors: Tordo
authors: Ph
authors: P
authors: Marianneau
authors: A
authors: A
authors: Aguilar-Setién
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000276:immunology; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D003715:Dengue / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology / Q000662:veterinary*; D003716:Dengue Virus / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D006406:Hematoma / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D012367:RNA, Viral; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology; D019562:Viral Load
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral