The Serological Prevalence of Rabies Virus-Neutralizing Antibodies in the Bat Population on the Caribbean Island of Trinidad.

Janine F R Seetahal,Tony Schountz,Christopher A L Oura,Lauren Greenberg,Panayampalli Subbian Satheshkumar,Manuel J Sanchez-Vazquez,Vernie Ramkissoon,George Legall,Christine V F Carrington,Shamjeet Singh,Vincent Munster

doi:10.3390/v12020178

Abstract

Rabies virus (RABV) is the only lyssavirus known to be present within the Caribbean. The island of Trinidad, is richly diverse in chiropteran fauna and endemic for bat-transmitted rabies with low RABV isolation rates observed in this population. We aimed to determine the seroprevalence of rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (RVNA) in light of spatio-temporal and bat demographic factors to infer the extent of natural exposure to RABV in the Trinidadian bat population. RVNA titers were determined by the RABV micro-neutralization test on 383 bat samples representing 21 species, comprising 30.9% of local bat diversity, from 31 locations across the island over 5 years. RVNA was positively detected in 33 samples (8.6%) representing 6 bat species (mainly frugivorous) with titers ranging from 0.1 to 19 IU/mL (mean 1.66 IU/mL). The analyses based on a multivariable binomial generalised linear mixed-effects model showed that bat age and year of capture were significant predictors of seropositivity. Thus, juvenile bats were more likely to be seropositive when compared to adults (estimate 1.13; p = 0.04) which may suggest early exposure to the RABV with possible implications for viral amplification in this population. Temporal variation in rabies seropositivity, 2012–2014 versus 2015–2017 (estimate 1.07; p = 0.03) may have been related to the prevailing rabies epizootic situation. Regarding other factors investigated, RVNA was found in bats from both rural and non-rural areas, as well as in both hematophagous and non-hematophagous bat species. The most common seropositive species, Artibeus jamaicensis planirostris is ubiquitous throughout the island which may potentially facilitate human exposure. The findings of this study should be factored into public health assessments on the potential for rabies transmission by non-hematophagous bats in Trinidad.

Highlights

Rabies is a highly fatal but preventable zoonotic disease of major public health significance [1,2].The causative agent rabies virus (RABV) is the type species and most ubiquitous of the Lyssavirus genus [3]
409 sera samples from bats in Trinidad were collected for rabies virus neutralizing antibodies (RVNA) testing indicative of exposure to Rabies virus (RABV)
The most common species in the sample set was the Desmodus rotundus (n = 107; 27.9%). After this Artibeus jamaicensis planirostris (n = 89; 23.2%), Carollia perspicillata (n = 70; 18.3%) followed by Molossus molossus (n = 11; 2.9%) bats made up the majority of tested samples

Summary

Introduction

Rabies is a highly fatal but preventable zoonotic disease of major public health significance [1,2].The causative agent rabies virus (RABV) is the type species and most ubiquitous of the Lyssavirus genus [3]. The major global burden of rabies is attributed to dog-mediated transmission [5], sylvatic-transmission is becoming increasing important in the epidemiology of rabies [6,7,8,9]. This is relevant in the Americas with the decline of canine-transmitted cases [10,11,12] and the recognition of distinct RABV variants in numerous bat species [9,13,14]. These variants can be transmitted between bat species and to other mammals [14,17], in Latin America and the Caribbean the vampire bat is the bat species most implicated as a reservoir in this region [18]

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