Abstract
BackgroundIn 2008–09, evidence of Reston ebolavirus (RESTV) infection was found in domestic pigs and pig workers in the Philippines. With species of bats having been shown to be the cryptic reservoir of filoviruses elsewhere, the Philippine government, in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, assembled a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team to investigate Philippine bats as the possible reservoir of RESTV.MethodsThe team undertook surveillance of bat populations at multiple locations during 2010 using both serology and molecular assays.ResultsA total of 464 bats from 21 species were sampled. We found both molecular and serologic evidence of RESTV infection in multiple bat species. RNA was detected with quantitative PCR (qPCR) in oropharyngeal swabs taken from Miniopterus schreibersii, with three samples yielding a product on conventional hemi-nested PCR whose sequences differed from a Philippine pig isolate by a single nucleotide. Uncorroborated qPCR detections may indicate RESTV nucleic acid in several additional bat species (M. australis, C. brachyotis and Ch. plicata). We also detected anti-RESTV antibodies in three bats (Acerodon jubatus) using both Western blot and ELISA.ConclusionsThe findings suggest that ebolavirus infection is taxonomically widespread in Philippine bats, but the evident low prevalence and low viral load warrants expanded surveillance to elaborate the findings, and more broadly, to determine the taxonomic and geographic occurrence of ebolaviruses in bats in the region.
Highlights
In 2008–09, evidence of Reston ebolavirus (RESTV) infection was found in domestic pigs and pig workers in the Philippines
In 2010, under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), we investigated Philippine bats as possible wildlife reservoirs of RESTV
Of the Bulacan samples, all sera were negative on ELISA, and all rectal and urine swabs pools were negative for RESTV RNA on quantitative PCR (qPCR)
Summary
In 2008–09, evidence of Reston ebolavirus (RESTV) infection was found in domestic pigs and pig workers in the Philippines. With species of bats having been shown to be the cryptic reservoir of filoviruses elsewhere, the Philippine government, in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, assembled a multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional team to investigate Philippine bats as the possible reservoir of RESTV. Ebolaviruses were first described in 1976, aetiologically associated with outbreaks of human haemorrhagic fever in central and western Africa [1]. The high mortality rate of Ebolaviruses and the related Marburgviruses (family Filoviridae) demanded elaboration of their ecology. The origin of the viruses was cryptic [2, 3] and remained elusive until Leroy et al [4] reported serological and molecular evidence of fruit bats as reservoirs of Ebola virus.
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