Oral shedding of Marburg virus in experimentally infected Egyptian fruit bats (Rousettus aegyptiacus).
Marburg virus (Marburg marburgvirus; MARV) causes sporadic outbreaks of Marburg hemorrhagic fever (MHF) in Africa. The Egyptian fruit bat (Rousettus aegyptiacus) has been identified as a natural reservoir based most-recently on the repeated isolation of MARV directly from bats caught at two locations in southwestern Uganda where miners and tourists separately contracted MHF from 2007-08. Despite learning much about the ecology of MARV through extensive field investigations, there remained unanswered questions such as determining the primary routes of virus shedding and the severity of disease, if any, caused by MARV in infected bats. To answer these questions and others, we experimentally infected captive-bred R. aegyptiacus with MARV under high (biosafety level 4) containment. These experiments have shown infection profiles consistent with R. aegyptiacus being a bona fide natural reservoir host for MARV and demonstrated routes of viral shedding capable of infecting humans and other animals.
1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Viral Special Pathogens Branch, 1600 Clifton Rd. NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
Brian R
BR
Amman
Megan E B
ME
Jones
Tara K
TK
Sealy
Luke S
LS
Uebelhoer
Amy J
AJ
Schuh
Brian H
BH
Bird
JoAnn D
JD
Coleman-McCray
Brock E
BE
Martin
Stuart T
ST
Nichol
Jonathan S
JS
Towner
D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D008297:Male; D008379:Marburg Virus Disease / Q000821:virology*; D029024:Marburgvirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009055:Mouth / Q000821:virology*; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D019562:Viral Load; D017201:Virus Shedding
D012367:RNA, Viral
Experimental infection; Marburg virus; Rousettus aegyptiacus; shedding; transmission