Alphavirus Identification in Neotropical Bats.

Lucía Moreira Marrero,Germán Botto Nuñez,Adriana Delfraro,Sandra Frabasile

doi:10.3390/v14020269

Lucía Moreira Marrero, Germán Botto Nuñez + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/v14020269

Copy DOI

Abstract

Alphaviruses (Togaviridae) are arthropod-borne viruses responsible for several emerging diseases, maintained in nature through transmission between hematophagous arthropod vectors and susceptible vertebrate hosts. Although bats harbor many species of viruses, their role as reservoir hosts in emergent zoonoses has been verified only in a few cases. With bats being the second most diverse order of mammals, their implication in arbovirus infections needs to be elucidated. Reports on arbovirus infections in bats are scarce, especially in South American indigenous species. In this work, we report the genomic detection and identification of two different alphaviruses in oral swabs from bats captured in Northern Uruguay. Phylogenetic analysis identified Río Negro virus (RNV) in two different species: Tadarida brasiliensis (n = 6) and Myotis spp. (n = 1) and eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) in Myotis spp. (n = 2). Previous studies of our group identified RNV and EEEV in mosquitoes and horse serology, suggesting that they may be circulating in enzootic cycles in our country. Our findings reveal that bats can be infected by these arboviruses and that chiropterans could participate in the viral natural cycle as virus amplifiers or dead-end hosts. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the role of these mammals in the biological cycle of these alphaviruses in Uruguay.

Highlights

Alphaviruses (Togaviridae) are arthropod-borne viruses associated with emerging infectious diseases of public health concern
Positive samples corresponded to two bat species: Tadarida brasiliensis and Myotis spp. from Rivera and Artigas departments
Maximum likelihood phylogeny (Figure 2) showed that seven viral sequences grouped with high statistical support within the Rio Negro virus (RNV) clade, from the Venezuelan equine encephalitis virus (VEEV) complex

Summary

Introduction

Alphaviruses (Togaviridae) are arthropod-borne viruses associated with emerging infectious diseases of public health concern. The genus includes 32 species widely distributed throughout the world. They are single stranded, positive sense RNA, enveloped viruses. Their genome is 11–12 kilobases in size and encodes five structural proteins (C, E3, E2, 6K, and E1) and four non-structural proteins (NSP1, NSP2, NSP3, and NSP4) [1]. Most alphaviruses are mosquito-borne and are pathogenic in their vertebrate hosts and cause a wide variety of diseases in humans, ranging from febrile illness to more severe clinical symptoms, such as arthritis or encephalitis [2]. We may cite the emergence of chikungunya (CHIKV) and Mayaro viruses (MAYV) in Central and South America, or the re-emergence of Madariaga virus (MADV) in Central America [2,3,4,5,6]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion