title: Molecular evidence of Ebola Reston virus infection in Philippine bats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  In 2008-09, evidence of Reston ebolavirus (RESTV) infection was found in domestic pigs and pig workers in the Philippines. With species of bats having been shown to be the cryptic reservoir of filoviruses elsewhere, the Philippine government, in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, assembled a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team to investigate Philippine bats as the possible reservoir of RESTV.
  
  
  METHODS
  The team undertook surveillance of bat populations at multiple locations during 2010 using both serology and molecular assays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 464 bats from 21 species were sampled. We found both molecular and serologic evidence of RESTV infection in multiple bat species. RNA was detected with quantitative PCR (qPCR) in oropharyngeal swabs taken from Miniopterus schreibersii, with three samples yielding a product on conventional hemi-nested PCR whose sequences differed from a Philippine pig isolate by a single nucleotide. Uncorroborated qPCR detections may indicate RESTV nucleic acid in several additional bat species (M. australis, C. brachyotis and Ch. plicata). We also detected anti-RESTV antibodies in three bats (Acerodon jubatus) using both Western blot and ELISA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings suggest that ebolavirus infection is taxonomically widespread in Philippine bats, but the evident low prevalence and low viral load warrants expanded surveillance to elaborate the findings, and more broadly, to determine the taxonomic and geographic occurrence of ebolaviruses in bats in the region.
authors.affiliation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Makati City, Philippines. sarah_jayme@yahoo.com.|Global Alliance for Rabies Control, Santa Rosa City, Philippines. sarah_jayme@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Sarah I
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Jayme
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Brisbane, Australia. hume.field@ecohealthalliance.org.|EcoHealth Alliance, New York, USA. hume.field@ecohealthalliance.org.
authors.forename: Hume E
authors.initials: HE
authors.lastname: Field
authors.affiliation: Queensland Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Brisbane, Australia. carol.dejong@daff.qld.gov.au.
authors.forename: Carol
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: de Jong
authors.affiliation: EcoHealth Alliance, New York, USA. olival@ecohealthalliance.org.
authors.forename: Kevin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Olival
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Australia. glenn.marsh@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Glenn
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Marsh
authors.affiliation: Biodiversity Management Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines. anson_tagtag@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Anson M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Tagtag
authors.affiliation: EcoHealth Alliance, New York, USA. tom.hughes@ecohealthalliance.org.
authors.forename: Tom
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Animal Industries, Department of Agriculture, Quezon City, Philippines. anthonybucad_dvm@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Anthony C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Bucad
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Australia. jennifer.barr@csiro.a.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barr
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Animal Industries, Department of Agriculture, Quezon City, Philippines. rachelazul@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Rachel R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Azul
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Animal Industries, Department of Agriculture, Quezon City, Philippines. lilia_retes@yahoo.com.ph.
authors.forename: Lilia M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Retes
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Australia. adam.foord@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Adam
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Foord
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Animal Industries, Department of Agriculture, Quezon City, Philippines. meng.yu@csiro.au.
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Bureau of Animal Industries, Department of Agriculture, Quezon City, Philippines. magdalenasirioscruz@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Magdalena S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Cruz
authors.affiliation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Makati City, Philippines. ijsantos62@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Imelda J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Biodiversity Management Bureau, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Quezon City, Philippines. munditalim@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Theresa Mundita S
authors.initials: TM
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.affiliation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (FAO RAP), Bangkok, Thailand. carolyn.benigno@fao.org.
authors.forename: Carolyn C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Benigno
authors.affiliation: EcoHealth Alliance, New York, USA. epstein@ecohealthalliance.org.
authors.forename: Jonathan H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Epstein
authors.affiliation: CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, Geelong, Australia. linfa.wang@duke-nus.edu.sg.|Program in Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, ᅟ, Singapore. linfa.wang@duke-nus.edu.sg.
authors.forename: Lin-Fa
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: EcoHealth Alliance, New York, USA. daszak@ecohealthalliance.org.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Daszak
authors.affiliation: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Emergency Centre for Transboundary Animal Disease, Hanoi, Vietnam. scott.newman@fao.org.
authors.forename: Scott H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Newman
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000914:Antibodies, Viral / Q000097:blood; D002685:Chiroptera / Q000821:virology*; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000662:veterinary* / Q000821:virology; D009960:Oropharynx / Q000821:virology; D010679:Philippines; D010802:Phylogeny; D012367:RNA, Viral / Q000235:genetics / Q000302:isolation & purification; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017385:Sequence Homology
chemical_list: D000914:Antibodies, Viral; D012367:RNA, Viral