Abstract
In 2011, an unusually large number of independent Hendra virus outbreaks were recorded on horse properties in Queensland and New South Wales, Australia. Urine from bat colonies adjacent to the outbreak sites were sampled and screened for Hendra and other viruses. Several novel paramyxoviruses were also isolated at different locations. Here one of the novel viruses, named Hervey virus (HerPV), is fully characterized by genome sequencing, annotation, phylogeny and in vitro host range, and its serological cross-reactivity and neutralization patterns are examined. HerPV may have ecological and spatial and temporal patterns similar to Hendra virus and could serve as a sentinel virus for the surveillance of this highly pathogenic virus. The suitability of HerPV as potential sentinel virus is further assessed by determining the serological prevalence of HerPV antibodies in fruit-eating bats from Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Tanzania and the Gulf of Guinea, indicating the presence of similar viruses in regions beyond the Australian border.
Highlights
Over recent decades, bats have been recognized to play a major role in the emergence of infectious diseases [1,2,3,4,5]
The virus is similar in genome organization, length and protein annotation to other proposed members of the genus Rubulavirus isolated from bats
Our new analysis that was based on the whole RdRP ORF (6,944 nt) showed that HerPV is closest related to Menangle virus and Tioman virus
Summary
Bats have been recognized to play a major role in the emergence of infectious diseases [1,2,3,4,5]. Their role as reservoir hosts for the highly pathogenic order Mononegavirales, such as filoviruses, lyssaviruses and henipaviruses, has led to increased interest in bats, the oldest known mammals on earth [6]. Henipavirus is a genus within the family Paramyxoviridae that consists of Hendra, Nipah and Cedar viruses which have been isolated from pteropid bats and humans in Asia or Australia [3, 4, 7]. Viruses from the various genera have been detected in bat tissues and body fluids throughout Africa, Central and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia, and co-circulation was often assumed [9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18].
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