Novel Lyssavirus in Natterer's Bat, Germany

Conrad Freuling

doi:10.3201/eid1708.110201

Abstract

A virus isolated from a Natterer’s bat (Myotis nattererii) in Germany was differentiated from other lyssaviruses on the basis of the reaction pattern of a panel of monoclonal antibodies. Phylogenetic analysis supported the assumption that the isolated virus, Bokeloh bat lyssavirus, may represent a new member of the genus Lyssavirus.

Highlights

A virus isolated from a Natterer’s bat (Myotis nattererii) in Germany was differentiated from other lyssaviruses on the basis of the reaction pattern of a panel of monoclonal antibodies
Sequence analysis of the nucleoprotein gene performed with MEGA version 4.0 software showed that Bokeloh bat lyssavirus (BBLV) differed from all other published lyssavirus sequences with the highest nucleotide identity to Khujand virus (KHUV) (80%), followed by Aravan virus (ARAV) (79%), EBLV-2 (79%), Australia bat lyssavirus (77%), EBLV-1 (77%), Irkut virus (76%), Shimoni virus (76%), rabies virus (RABV) (73-75%) and Duvenhage virus (75%)
Phylogenetic analysis based on concatenated N-P-M-G-L nucleotide sequences showed that BBLV is most closely related to KHUV, followed by EBLV-2 (Figure 2)

Summary

Introduction

A virus isolated from a Natterer’s bat (Myotis nattererii) in Germany was differentiated from other lyssaviruses on the basis of the reaction pattern of a panel of monoclonal antibodies. From 1977 through 2009, a total of 928 cases of bat rabies (EBLV-1 and EBLV-2) were detected in Europe, but only 10 of the 45 known indigenous bat species tested positive for lyssavirus; most were serotine bats (Eptesicus serotinus) associated with EBLV-1 [5,6]. In Germany, bat rabies has been known since the middle of the 20th century, and most isolated viruses were characterized as EBLV-1 [6]. The Study In November 2009, a bat was found on the ground in Bokeloh, Lower Saxony, Germany (52°25′13.99′′N; 9°23′31.56′′E).

Results

Conclusion