Serological Evidence of Lyssaviruses among Bats on Southwestern Indian Ocean Islands.

Julien Mélade,Beza Ramasindrazana,Stewart McCulloch,Erwan Lagadec,Koussay Dellagi,Wanda Markotter,Magali Turpin,Hervé Pascalis,Steven M. Goodman,Pierre Roques

doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0160553

Abstract

We provide serological evidence of lyssavirus circulation among bats on southwestern Indian Ocean (SWIO) islands. A total of 572 bats belonging to 22 species were collected on Anjouan, Mayotte, La Réunion, Mauritius, Mahé and Madagascar and screened by the Rapid Fluorescent Focus Inhibition Test for the presence of neutralising antibodies against the two main rabies related lyssaviruses circulating on the African continent: Duvenhage lyssavirus (DUVV) and Lagos bat lyssavirus (LBV), representing phylogroups I and II, respectively. A total of 97 and 42 sera were able to neutralise DUVV and LBV, respectively. No serum neutralised both DUVV and LBV but most DUVV-seropositive bats (n = 32/220) also neutralised European bat lyssavirus 1 (EBLV-1) but not Rabies lyssavirus (RABV), the prototypic lyssavirus of phylogroup I. These results highlight that lyssaviruses belonging to phylogroups I and II circulate in regional bat populations and that the putative phylogroup I lyssavirus is antigenically closer to DUVV and EBLV-1 than to RABV. Variation between bat species, roost sites and bioclimatic regions were observed. All brain samples tested by RT-PCR specific for lyssavirus RNA were negative.

Highlights

IntroductionLyssaviruses (order: Mononegavirales, family: Rhabdoviridae) are RNA viruses with singlestranded, negative-sense genomes approximately 12 kb in length [1]
Lyssaviruses are RNA viruses with singlestranded, negative-sense genomes approximately 12 kb in length [1]
In order to delineate the antigenic relatedness of the putative locally circulating lyssavirus with other members of the Lyssavirus genus, sera were tested against two other representatives of phylogroup I: Rabies lyssavirus (RABV) (CVS-11) (n = 528) and European bat lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1) (n = 220)

Summary

Introduction

Lyssaviruses (order: Mononegavirales, family: Rhabdoviridae) are RNA viruses with singlestranded, negative-sense genomes approximately 12 kb in length [1]. Fifteen distinct viral species, classified into three phylogroups, have been identified to date within the Lyssavirus genus [2, 3]. These are the prototypic Rabies lyssavirus (RABV) and the 14 genetically related species referred to as rabies-related viruses that cluster into different phylogroups; Duvenhage lyssavirus (DUVV), European bat lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1) and type 2 (EBLV-2), Australian bat PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0160553. Lyssaviruses among Bats on Southwestern Indian Ocean Islands. These are the prototypic Rabies lyssavirus (RABV) and the 14 genetically related species referred to as rabies-related viruses that cluster into different phylogroups; Duvenhage lyssavirus (DUVV), European bat lyssavirus type 1 (EBLV-1) and type 2 (EBLV-2), Australian bat PLOS ONE | DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0160553 August 8, 2016

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