title: Serologic evidence of flavivirus infection in bats in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico.
abstract: We captured 140 bats of seven species in Merida City in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico in 2010. Serum was collected from each bat and assayed by plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) using six flaviviruses: West Nile virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, and dengue viruses 1-4. Flavivirus-specific antibodies were detected in 26 bats (19%). The antibody-positive bats belonged to three species: the Pallas's long-tongued bat (Glossophaga soricina), Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis), and great fruit-eating bat (Artibeus lituratus), and their flavivirus antibody prevalences were 33%, 24%, and 9%, respectively. The PRNT titers were usually highest for dengue virus 2 or dengue virus 4, but none of the titers exceeded 80. These data could indicate that most of the antibody-positive bats had been infected with dengue virus. However, because all titers were low, it is possible that the bats had been infected with another (perhaps unrecognized) flavivirus not included in the PRNT analysis, possibly a virus more closely related to dengue virus than to other flaviviruses. Each serum sample was assayed for flavivirus RNA by reverse transcription PCR, but all were negative.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio de Arbovirologia, Centro de Investigaciones Regionales Dr. Hideyo Noguchi, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán, Mérida, Yucatán, 97225, México.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Machain-Williams
authors.forename: Mildred
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: López-Uribe
authors.forename: Lourdes
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Talavera-Aguilar
authors.forename: Jaquelin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Carrillo-Navarrete
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vera-Escalante
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Puerto-Manzano
authors.forename: Armando
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ulloa
authors.forename: José Arturo
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Farfán-Ale
authors.forename: Julián
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Garcia-Rejon
authors.forename: Bradley J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Blitvich
authors.forename: María Alba
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Loroño-Pino
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood*; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D005416:Flavivirus / Q000276:immunology; D018177:Flavivirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D018571:Sentinel Surveillance / Q000662:veterinary*; D016036:Seroepidemiologic Studies; D013045:Species Specificity
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral
keywords: Bats; Chiroptera; Mexico; dengue virus; flavivirus; surveillance