Insights into Australian Bat Lyssavirus in Insectivorous Bats of Western Australia.

Victoria Boyd,Bethany Jackson,Michelle Baker,Diana Prada,Mark O’Dea

doi:10.3390/tropicalmed4010046

Abstract

Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) is a known causative agent of neurological disease in bats, humans and horses. It has been isolated from four species of pteropid bats and a single microbat species (Saccolaimus flaviventris). To date, ABLV surveillance has primarily been passive, with active surveillance concentrating on eastern and northern Australian bat populations. As a result, there is scant regional ABLV information for large areas of the country. To better inform the local public health risks associated with human-bat interactions, this study describes the lyssavirus prevalence in microbat communities in the South West Botanical Province of Western Australia. We used targeted real-time PCR assays to detect viral RNA shedding in 839 oral swabs representing 12 species of microbats, which were sampled over two consecutive summers spanning 2016–2018. Additionally, we tested 649 serum samples via Luminex® assay for reactivity to lyssavirus antigens. Active lyssavirus infection was not detected in any of the samples. Lyssavirus antibodies were detected in 19 individuals across six species, with a crude prevalence of 2.9% (95% CI: 1.8–4.5%) over the two years. In addition, we present the first records of lyssavirus exposure in two Nyctophilus species, and Falsistrellus mackenziei.

Highlights

IntroductionAustralian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) is one of the 16 classified species of lyssaviruses within the family Rhabdoviridae [1]
Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) is one of the 16 classified species of lyssaviruses within the family Rhabdoviridae [1]. It was first discovered in Australia in 1996 [2] and early studies distinguished two variants, the pteropid variant carried by all four species of flying fox within continental Australia [3], and the insectivorous variant detected only in the yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris) [4]
We did not detect any current ABLV infection or the presence of any other lyssavirus species circulating within the sampled populations, despite the large sample size (n = 839)

Summary

Introduction

Australian bat lyssavirus (ABLV) is one of the 16 classified species of lyssaviruses within the family Rhabdoviridae [1]. It was first discovered in Australia in 1996 [2] and early studies distinguished two variants, the pteropid variant carried by all four species of flying fox within continental Australia [3], and the insectivorous variant detected only in the yellow-bellied sheath-tailed bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris) [4]. There is evidence of ABLV exposure in 11 genera within four microbat families [5], additional reservoir species have yet to be identified. Both ABLV strains are associated with clinical disease in the host species [2,4]. The perceived risk from exposure to microbats is potentially limited by the relative lack of media exposure these species receive compared to the larger pteropids, coupled with only a single documented microbat to human transmission of ABLV to date

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