Active surveillance for antibodies confirms circulation of lyssaviruses in Palearctic bats

Veronika Seidlová ,Tomáš Bartonička,Oleg L Orlov,Primož Presetnik,Hana Berková,Grzegorz Apoznański,Petr Linhart,Mikhail P Tiunov,Alexandra P Shumkina,Hana Banďouchová ,Nikolay V Anisimov ,Jiří Brichta ,Vladimír Piaček ,Tomáš Heger ,А Д Ботвинкин ,F Treml ,Jan Zukal,Tomasz Kokurewicz,Heliana Dundarova,Jiří Pikula

doi:10.1186/s12917-020-02702-y

Abstract

BackgroundPalearctic bats host a diversity of lyssaviruses, though not the classical rabies virus (RABV). As surveillance for bat rabies over the Palearctic area covering Central and Eastern Europe and Siberian regions of Russia has been irregular, we lack data on geographic and seasonal patterns of the infection.ResultsTo address this, we undertook serological testing, using non-lethally sampled blood, on 1027 bats of 25 species in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Poland, Russia and Slovenia between 2014 and 2018. The indirect enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) detected rabies virus anti-glycoprotein antibodies in 33 bats, giving an overall seroprevalence of 3.2%. Bat species exceeding the seroconversion threshold included Myotis blythii, Myotis gracilis, Myotis petax, Myotis myotis, Murina hilgendorfi, Rhinolophus ferrumequinum and Vespertilio murinus. While Myotis species (84.8%) and adult females (48.5%) dominated in seropositive bats, juveniles of both sexes showed no difference in seroprevalence. Higher numbers tested positive when sampled during the active season (10.5%), as compared with the hibernation period (0.9%). Bat rabies seroprevalence was significantly higher in natural habitats (4.0%) compared with synanthropic roosts (1.2%). Importantly, in 2018, we recorded 73.1% seroprevalence in a cave containing a M. blythii maternity colony in the Altai Krai of Russia.ConclusionsIdentification of such “hotspots” of non-RABV lyssavirus circulation not only provides important information for public health protection, it can also guide research activities aimed at more in-depth bat rabies studies.

Highlights

Palearctic bats host a diversity of lyssaviruses, though not the classical rabies virus (RABV)
Different bat species act as principal reservoirs for most lyssaviruses, though carnivores only host the type species rabies virus (RABV), which is responsible for the majority of human rabies
Mass vaccination of reservoir populations is presently unfeasible as a control and elimination strategy for bat rabies; as culling of rabies-positive bat colonies runs counter to present international legislation regarding conservation of threatened species, especially EC Directive 92/43/EEC of 21 May 1992 on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora, and as this approach may have the opposite effect on rabies epidemiology by stimulating bat dispersal [17]

Summary

Introduction

Palearctic bats host a diversity of lyssaviruses, though not the classical rabies virus (RABV). Different bat species act as principal reservoirs for most lyssaviruses, though carnivores only host the type species rabies virus (RABV), which is responsible for the majority of human rabies. Laboratory submissions include diseased bats suspected of having rabies, those that die in rescue centres or those that have injured humans [15] [19] [20]. This protocol relies on the vigilance of both the public and bat specialists in order for wildlife casualties to be reported and presented for examination. Bat rabies surveillance activities in different countries of the Palearctic region and bat species are irregular, with decreasing intensity from west to east [10] [15] [21,22,23,24,25,26]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion