Natural exposure of bats in Grenada to rabies virus

Ulrike Zieger,Sonia Cheetham,Sharlene E Santana,Leith Leiser-Miller,Vanessa Matthew-Belmar,Hooman Goharriz,Anthony R Fooks

doi:10.1080/20008686.2017.1332935

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Grenada is a rabies endemic country, where terrestrial rabies is maintained in the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus). The role of bats in the epidemiology of rabies in Grenada is unknown. A 1974 report described one rabies virus positive Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis), and a high seroprevalence in this species. In the current study, the natural exposure to rabies virus in Grenadian bats was re-evaluated. It is postulated that bats serve as a natural rabies reservoir, probably circulating a bat-specific rabies virus variant. Material and methods: Bats were trapped in 2015 in all six parishes of Grenada using mist- and hand nets. For the detection of rabies virus in brain tissue, the direct fluorescent antibody test (dFAT) and the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used. Serum neutralizing antibodies were determined using the fluorescent antibody virus neutralization test (FAVN). Results and discussion: Brain tissue and sera from 111 insectivorous and frugivorous bats belonging to four species were tested (52 Artibeus jamaicensis, two Artibeus lituratus, 33 Glossophaga longirostris, 24 Molossus molossus). Rabies virus antigen and genomic RNA were not detected in brain tissues. Rabies virus neutralizing antibodies were detected in the sera of eight A. jamaicensis in four of the six parishes. Bats in Grenada continue to show natural exposure to rabies virus. As rabies virus was not isolated in this study, serology alone is not sufficient to determine the strain of rabies virus circulating in A. jamaicensis bats in Grenada. Conclusion: Artibeus jamaicensis appears to play a role as a reservoir bat species, which is of public health concern in Grenada. Dispersion of bats to neighboring islands is possible and serological bat surveys should be initiated in these neighboring states, especially in those areas that are free of rabies in terrestrial mammals.

Highlights

Grenada is a rabies endemic country, where terrestrial rabies is maintained in the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus)
Rabies lyssavirus (RABLV) infection is enzootic in bats in North America, where the virus has been detected in most known bat species.[1]
A total of 111 bats belonging to four species were examined: 52 A. jamaicensis, two A. lituratus, 33 M. molossus, and 24 G. longirostris

Summary

Introduction

Grenada is a rabies endemic country, where terrestrial rabies is maintained in the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus). A 1974 report described one rabies virus positive Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis), and a high seroprevalence in this species. Information on other bat species as potential rabies reservoirs in the Neotropics is scarce This is true for Grenada, one of four Caribbean islands where rabies is endemic, and is maintained in the small Indian mongoose (Herpestes auropuntatus) with spillover into domestic animals. The RABV variant that circulates in Grenadian terrestrial mammals has recently been described.[5] The role of bats, in the rabies epidemiology in Grenada is unknown. One report exists dating back to the 1970s, in which RABV was detected in the brain of one Jamaican fruit bat (Artibeus jamaicensis).[6] The same study detected rabies virus neutralizing antibodies in six bat species, with the highest seroprevalence in A. jamaicensis

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Results

Conclusion