Abstract
Bat-borne viruses in the Henipavirus genus have been associated with zoonotic diseases of high morbidity and mortality in Asia and Australia. In Africa, the Egyptian rousette bat species (Rousettus aegyptiacus) is an important viral host in which Henipavirus-related viral sequences have previously been identified. We expanded these findings by assessing the viral dynamics in a southern African bat population. A longitudinal study of henipavirus diversity and excretion dynamics identified 18 putative viral species circulating in a local population, three with differing seasonal dynamics, and the winter and spring periods posing a higher risk of virus spillover and transmission. The annual peaks in virus excretion are most likely driven by subadults and may be linked to the waning of maternal immunity and recolonization of the roost in early spring. These results provide insightful information into the bat-host relationship that can be extrapolated to other populations across Africa and be communicated to at-risk communities as a part of evidence-based public health education and prevention measures against pathogen spillover threats.
Highlights
Bat-borne viruses in the Henipavirus genus have been associated with zoonotic diseases of high morbidity and mortality in Asia and Australia
To investigate the detection rates, diversity, and viral excretion dynamics of henipa- and related viruses associated with R. aegyptiacus bats, we sampled and tested a total of 2678 samples collected between 2012 and 2019
The assay targeted viruses from the Respiro- and Morbillivirus genera, only viral sequences related to the Henipavirus genus were detected
Summary
The annual peaks in virus excretion are most likely driven by subadults and may be linked to the waning of maternal immunity and recolonization of the roost in early spring These results provide insightful information into the bat-host relationship that can be extrapolated to other populations across Africa and be communicated to at-risk communities as a part of evidence-based public health education and prevention measures against pathogen spillover threats. The detection of related henipaviruses in African bat species and serological evidence of human exposure to these viruses could indicate that spillover is occurring undetected, which raises concern given the pervasive lack of public health resources in many African countries[29] Henipavirus dynamics in their pteropid hosts and drivers of disease emergence have been studied in more detail for Hendra and Nipah virus in Pteropus spp. from Australia and South Asia, respectively. Limited follow-up studies have been performed to gain information on the viral dynamics, pathogenicity, and host ecology of newly described henipaviruses and related viruses in other bat species, such as R. aegyptiacus
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