title: Identification of an unclassified paramyxovirus in Coleura afra: a potential case of host specificity.
abstract: Bats are known to harbor multiple paramyxoviruses. Despite the creation of two new genera, Aquaparamyxovirus and Ferlavirus, to accommodate this increasing diversity, several recently isolated or characterized viruses remain unclassified beyond the subfamily level. In the present study, among 985 bats belonging to 6 species sampled in the Belinga caves of Gabon, RNA of an unclassified paramyxovirus (Belinga bat virus, BelPV) was discovered in 14 African sheath-tailed bats (Coleura afra), one of which exhibited several hemorrhagic lesions at necropsy, and viral sequence was obtained in two animals. Phylogenetically, BelPV is related to J virus and Beilong virus (BeiPV), two other unclassified paramyxoviruses isolated from rodents. In the diseased BelPV-infected C. afra individual, high viral load was detected in the heart, and the lesions were consistent with those reported in wild rodents and mice experimentally infected by J virus. BelPV was not detected in other tested bat species sharing the same roosting sites and living in very close proximity with C. afra in the two caves sampled, suggesting that this virus may be host-specific for C. afra. The mode of transmission of this paramyxovirus in bat populations remains to be discovered.
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville, Gabon; Institut National Supérieur d'Agronomie et de Biotechnologies (INSAB), Franceville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Gael D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Maganga
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville, Gabon; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), UPR AGIRs, Montpellier, France; Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), UPR AGIRs, Harare, Zimbabwe.
authors.forename: Mathieu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bourgarel
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville, Gabon; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 224 (MIVEGEC), IRD/CNRS/UM1/UM2, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Judicael
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Obame Nkoghe
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville, Gabon.
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: N'Dilimabaka
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Drosten
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville, Gabon; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 224 (MIVEGEC), IRD/CNRS/UM1/UM2, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Paupy
authors.affiliation: Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (CIRAD), UPR AGIRs, Montpellier, France; des Sciences de l'Evolution, CNRS-UM2, CC065, Université de Montpellier 2, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Serge
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Morand
authors.affiliation: Institute of Virology, University of Bonn Medical Centre, Bonn, Germany.
authors.forename: Jan Felix
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Drexler
authors.affiliation: Centre International de Recherches Médicales de Franceville (CIRMF), Franceville, Gabon; Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD), UMR 224 (MIVEGEC), IRD/CNRS/UM1/UM2, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Eric M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Leroy
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D058507:Host Specificity; D009928:Organ Specificity; D018098:Paramyxovirinae / Q000145:classification / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D010802:Phylogeny