Molecular and serological survey of lyssaviruses in Croatian bat populations

Ivana Šimić,Vida Zrnčić,Anđela Ćukušić,Tomislav Bedeković,Ivana Lojkić,Evelyne Picard-Meyer,Florence Cliquet,Nina Krešić,Marine Wasniewski

doi:10.1186/s12917-018-1592-z

Abstract

BackgroundRabies is the only known zoonotic disease of bat origin in Europe. The disease is caused by species belonging to the genus Lyssavirus. Five Lyssavirus species, i.e., European bat lyssavirus (EBLV)-1, EBLV-2, Bokeloh bat lyssavirus, Lleida bat lyssavirus, and West Caucasian bat virus, have been identified in European bats. More recently, a proposed sixth species, Kotalahti bat lyssavirus, was detected. Thus, in this study, active surveillance was initiated in order to obtain insights into the prevalence of lyssaviruses in Croatian bat populations and to improve our understanding of the public health threat of infected bats.ResultsIn total, 455 bats were caught throughout Continental and Mediterranean Croatia. Antibodies were found in 20 of 350 bats (5.71%, 95% confidence interval 3.73–8.66). The majority of seropositive bats were found in Trbušnjak cave (Continental Croatia, Eastern part), and most seropositive bats belonged to Myotis myotis (13/20). All oropharyngeal swabs were negative for the presence of Lyssavirus.ConclusionsThe presence of lyssaviruses in bat populations was confirmed for the first time in Croatia and Southeastern Europe. The results of this study suggest the need for further comprehensive analyses of lyssaviruses in bats in this part of Europe.

Highlights

Rabies is the only known zoonotic disease of bat origin in Europe
16 Lyssavirus species are recognized by the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses [2], all of which have been reported in bats except for two species, Mokola lyssavirus and Ikoma lyssavirus [3, 4]
Fourteen bats were unable to be confidently categorized between Myotis myotis and Myotis blythii and were designated as Myotis myotis/blythii

Summary

Introduction

Rabies is the only known zoonotic disease of bat origin in Europe. The disease is caused by species belonging to the genus Lyssavirus. A proposed sixth species, Kotalahti bat lyssavirus, was detected. In this study, active surveillance was initiated in order to obtain insights into the prevalence of lyssaviruses in Croatian bat populations and to improve our understanding of the public health threat of infected bats. Rabies is a fatal viral zoonotic disease infecting all warm-blooded mammals, including bats, and is caused by viruses belonging to the genus Lyssavirus. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 59, 000 human deaths occur annually around the world due to dog-transmitted rabies. Rabies transmitted from bats causes a small proportion of human cases globally [1]. Two related viruses, i.e., Taiwan bat lyssavirus (TWBLV) and Kotalahti bat lyssavirus (KBLV), were isolated from bats [2, 5, 6].

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