Abstract
Simple SummaryThe role of wildlife animals, such as macaques and bats, in the spreading and maintenance of deadly zoonotic pathogens in nature are documented in several studies. The present study substantially highlights the first evidence of West Nile Virus (WNV) infection, a mosquito borne virus in the Malaysian macaques and bats. Of the 81 macaques sampled, 24 of the long-tailed macaques were seropositive to WNV, indicating that they were exposed to the virus in the past. The long-tailed macaques were found in the mangrove forests located in the Central, Southern, and West Peninsular Malaysia. Meanwhile, five out of 41 bats (Lesser Short-nosed Fruit Bats, Lesser Sheath-tailed Bats, and Thai Horseshoe Bats) that were found in the caves from Northern Peninsular Malaysia showed susceptibility to WNV. Therefore, a constant bio surveillance of WNV in the wildlife in Malaysia is a proactive attempt. This study was aligned with the Malaysian government’s mission under the Malaysia Strategy for Emerging Diseases and Public Health Emergencies (MYSED) II (2017–2021) and the Ministry of Health priorities in order to enhance the regional capability to rapidly and accurately survey, detect, diagnose, and report outbreaks of pathogens and diseases of security concern.The role of wildlife such as wild birds, macaques, and bats in the spreading and maintenance of deadly zoonotic pathogens in nature have been well documented in many parts of the world. One such pathogen is the mosquitoes borne virus, namely the West Nile Virus (WNV). Previous research has shown that 1:7 and 1:6 Malaysian wild birds are WNV antibody and RNA positive, respectively, and bats in North America may not be susceptible to the WNV infection. This study was conducted to determine the status of WNV in Malaysian macaques and bats found in mangrove forests and caves, respectively. Archive sera and oropharyngeal swabs from long-tailed macaques were subjected to the antibody detection using WNV competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (c-ELISA) and WNV RNA using RT-PCR, respectively, while the archive oropharyngeal and rectal swabs from bats were subjected to RT-PCR without serological analysis due to the unavailability of serum samples. The analysis revealed a WNV seropositivity of 29.63% (24/81) and none of the macaques were positive for WNV RNA. Meanwhile, 12.2% (5/41) of the bats from Pteropodidae, Emballonuridae, and Rhinolophidae families tested positive for WNV RNA. Here, we show a high WNV antibody prevalence in macaques and a moderate WNV RNA in various Malaysian bat species, suggesting that WNV circulates through Malaysian wild animals and Malaysian bat species may be susceptible to the WNV infection.
Highlights
Emerging and re-emerging zoonotic pathogens are transmitted mostly from wildlife reservoirs to humans or other animals during spillover events, with or without a vector intervention.Evidence has shown that some of the medically important mosquito borne illnesses causing WestNile fever, dengue, malaria, chikungunya, zika, and Japanese encephalitis were isolated from the wildlife [1,2,3]
All experimental procedures involving the archived samples that originated from the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (DWNP) were conducted in accordance with guidelines approved by DWNP, Malaysia with the research permit number JPHL&TN (IP):100-6/1/14
DAS-ELISA and none of the samples showed a positive reaction towards Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV)
Summary
Emerging and re-emerging zoonotic pathogens are transmitted mostly from wildlife reservoirs to humans or other animals during spillover events, with or without a vector intervention.Evidence has shown that some of the medically important mosquito borne illnesses causing WestNile fever, dengue, malaria, chikungunya, zika, and Japanese encephalitis were isolated from the wildlife [1,2,3]. Emerging and re-emerging zoonotic pathogens are transmitted mostly from wildlife reservoirs to humans or other animals during spillover events, with or without a vector intervention. Evidence has shown that some of the medically important mosquito borne illnesses causing West. Dengue, malaria, chikungunya, zika, and Japanese encephalitis were isolated from the wildlife [1,2,3]. The West Nile fever is distributed in Africa, USA, Europe, and Western Asia causing febrile illness and encephalitis in humans and animals [4]. Despite the role played by wild birds as amplifier hosts of WNV and mosquitoes as vectors, the role of wildlife such as macaques and bats in the WNV transmission cycle remains poorly understood [6].
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