title: Natural Hendra Virus Infection in Flying-Foxes - Tissue Tropism and Risk Factors.
abstract: Hendra virus (HeV) is a lethal zoonotic agent that emerged in 1994 in Australia. Pteropid bats (flying-foxes) are the natural reservoir. To date, HeV has spilled over from flying-foxes to horses on 51 known occasions, and from infected horses to close-contact humans on seven occasions. We undertook screening of archived bat tissues for HeV by reverse transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Tissues were tested from 310 bats including 295 Pteropodiformes and 15 Vespertilioniformes. HeV was detected in 20 individual flying-foxes (6.4%) from various tissues including spleen, kidney, liver, lung, placenta and blood components. Detection was significantly higher in Pteropus Alecto and P. conspicillatus, identifying species as a risk factor for infection. Further, our findings indicate that HeV has a predilection for the spleen, suggesting this organ plays an important role in HeV infection. The lack of detections in the foetal tissues of HeV-positive females suggests that vertical transmission is not a regular mode of transmission in naturally infected flying-foxes, and that placental and foetal tissues are not a major source of infection for horses. A better understanding of HeV tissue tropism will strengthen management of the risk of spillover from flying-foxes to horses and ultimately humans.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Lauren K
authors.initials: LK
authors.lastname: Goldspink
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Daniel W
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Edson
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Miranda E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Vidgen
authors.affiliation: Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, East Geelong, Victoria, Australia.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bingham
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia; EcoHealth Alliance, New York, New York, United States of America.
authors.forename: Hume E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Field
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Biosecurity Queensland, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia.
authors.forename: Craig S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000145:classification / Q000821:virology*; D005260:Female; D045404:Hendra Virus / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000502:physiology; D045464:Henipavirus Infections / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012307:Risk Factors; D013045:Species Specificity; D056189:Viral Tropism; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000821:virology*