Abstract
BackgroundFruit bats are known to harbor zoonotic paramyxoviruses including Nipah, Hendra, and Menangle viruses. The aim of this study was to detect the presence of paramyxovirus RNA in fruit bats from Indonesia.MethodsRNA samples were obtained from the spleens of 110 fruit bats collected from four locations in Indonesia. All samples were screened by semi-nested broad spectrum reverse transcription PCR targeting the paramyxovirus polymerase (L) genes.ResultsSemi-nested reverse transcription PCR detected five previously unidentified paramyxoviruses from six fruit bats. Phylogenetic analysis showed that these virus sequences were related to henipavirus or rubulavirus.ConclusionsThis study indicates the presence of novel paramyxoviruses among fruit bat populations in Indonesia.
Highlights
Fruit bats are known to harbor zoonotic paramyxoviruses including Nipah, Hendra, and Menangle viruses
Henipaviruses have been isolated from fruit bats including Pteropus vampyrus [3], Pteropus hypomelanus [4], Pteropus lylei [5], Pteropus poliocephalus, and Pteropus alecto [6], which are considered to be their natural reservoirs
No human cases of henipavirus infection have been reported in Indonesia, Pteropus vampyrus that are seropositive for both Nipah virus and Hendra virus are distributed nationwide [12,13]
Summary
Fruit bats are known to harbor zoonotic paramyxoviruses including Nipah, Hendra, and Menangle viruses. The aim of this study was to detect the presence of paramyxovirus RNA in fruit bats from Indonesia. Results: Semi-nested reverse transcription PCR detected five previously unidentified paramyxoviruses from six fruit bats. Epidemiological studies demonstrate that Hendra and/or Nipah virus-seropositive fruit bats are widely distributed throughout Asian countries [7,8,9,10,11]. No human cases of henipavirus infection have been reported in Indonesia, Pteropus vampyrus that are seropositive for both Nipah virus and Hendra virus are distributed nationwide [12,13].
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