Isolation of Angola-like Marburg virus from Egyptian rousette bats from West Africa

James Bangura,Marilyn C Kanu ,Fatmata V Bairoh,Emmanuel Amara,Emmanuel Saidu,Tara K Sealy,Doris Bangura,Dickson Kargbo,Amy J Schuh,James Graziano,Andrew Chow,Osman T Kanu ,Jonathan S Towner,Augustus Osborne,Raoul Emeric Guetiya Wadoum,Tracey Goldstein,Jonathan Johnny,Richard A Wadsworth ,Jonna A K Mazet,Samuel Maxwell Tom Williams,Emmanuel S Kamanda,Jonathan Musa,Aiah A Gbakima ,Ibrahim A Bakarr,Jasjeet Dhanota ,Ketan Patel,Céline H Taboy ,Vanessa Mereweather-Thompson,Joseph A Turay ,Moinya Coomber,Alexandre Tremeau‐Bravard ,Amara Jambai,Willie Robert,Aiah Lebbie,Stuart T Nichol,Victoria Ontiveros,Immah Conteh,Mohamed Turay,Brian R Amman,Manjunatha N Belaganahalli ,Abdulai A Bangura,Sorie Mohamed Kamara ,Alexandra A Gibson ,I K Foday ,Brian H Bird,Lavalie Edwin,Tushar Singh,A H Koroma ,Camilla Bangura,Victor Lungai

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14327-8

Abstract

Marburg virus (MARV) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe Marburg virus disease (MVD). Most MVD outbreaks originated in East Africa and field studies in East Africa, South Africa, Zambia, and Gabon identified the Egyptian rousette bat (ERB; Rousettus aegyptiacus) as a natural reservoir. However, the largest recorded MVD outbreak with the highest case–fatality ratio happened in 2005 in Angola, where direct spillover from bats was not shown. Here, collaborative studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Njala University, University of California, Davis USAID-PREDICT, and the University of Makeni identify MARV circulating in ERBs in Sierra Leone. PCR, antibody and virus isolation data from 1755 bats of 42 species shows active MARV infection in approximately 2.5% of ERBs. Phylogenetic analysis identifies MARVs that are similar to the Angola strain. These results provide evidence of MARV circulation in West Africa and demonstrate the value of pathogen surveillance to identify previously undetected threats.

Highlights

Marburg virus (MARV) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe Marburg virus disease (MVD)
Other filoviruses circulating in Africa include the marburgvirus, Ravn virus (RAVV), as well as five ebolaviruses, Ebola virus (EBOV), Sudan virus (SUDV), Tai Forest virus (TAFV), Bundibugyo virus (BDBV), and the recently discovered Bombali virus (BOMV)[9,11]
All bat samples were tested for 5 filoviruses (EBOV, TAFV, BDBV, MARV, and RAVV)

Summary

Introduction

Marburg virus (MARV) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe Marburg virus disease (MVD). Extensive field studies in Uganda[12,13,14], DRC10, Kenya[15], South Africa[16], Gabon[17,18], and Zambia[19,20], as well as experimental infection studies in captive bats in the United States[21,22] and South Africa[23,24], have shown that the cave-dwelling Egyptian rousette bat (ERB; Rousettus aegyptiacus) is a primary natural reservoir of MARV This discovery is consistent with the origins of MVD outbreaks that, when known, have been linked to caves or mines, with MARV most often having spilled over to miners who work underground in known ERB roosting sites, and occasionally to tourists who viewed ERBs too closely[25,26,27,28]. Through a combined multi-institutional effort, we report the presence of MARV, including an Angola-like MARV, in ERBs in West Africa

Methods

Results

Conclusion