Passive surveillance of bat-borne viruses in Hungary
Introduction: Bats are one of the most important reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens, carrying many viruses such as coronaviruses, filoviruses, lyssaviruses, etc. Rabies virus, the most known representative of the Lyssavirus genus poses a significant threat to public health worldwide, with a nearly 100...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Infectious Diseases |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1201971224007586 |
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| Summary: | Introduction: Bats are one of the most important reservoirs of zoonotic pathogens, carrying many viruses such as coronaviruses, filoviruses, lyssaviruses, etc. Rabies virus, the most known representative of the Lyssavirus genus poses a significant threat to public health worldwide, with a nearly 100% mortality rate amongst humans. The European Bat Lyssavirus-1 (EBLV-1) is the most widespread Lyssavirus species in European bats that also occurs in Hungary. Our main goal was to establish a passive surveillance system for bat-borne viruses in Hungary, and to study the bat lyssavirus situation in the country. Methods: Samples were donated mostly by Hungarian bat rehabilitation centres and national park directorates as well as bat workers and researchers. Dead-found or injured/ill bats that died despite of the utmost care were subjected for investigation. Bats were identified by professionals and necropsy was carried out to sample different organs. For Lyssavirus screening, RNA was extracted from the brain, and pan-lyssa nested-RT-PCR was performed. In case of positivity, the samples were sequenced on Illumina platform after viral enrichment. Complete genomes were de novo assembled and manually error corrected. Results: More than 200 bats were received in the frame of our program between 2018 and 2023. Till date 84 individuals of 11 bat species were necropsied. Out of the examined animals we detected two positive samples originated from Serotine bats (Eptesicus serotinus). Sanger sequencing showed that the viruses belong to EBLV-1, which was further confirmed by whole genome sequencing. The new genomes are close to the published ones from Hungary and belong to the EBLV-1a strain. Interestingly, one of the infected bats was transferred to a rehabilitation centre because a frog captured it. It was kept for months in captivity without any sign of illness from a disease, and suddenly died in a few days in rabies. Discussion: Passive surveillance is an important method to study viruses circulating in the bat fauna, and as most bats found are from urban areas, this especially applies for the study of bats close to humans. According to our experience, it is worth to record as much information about the circumstances of the finding of the bat as possible, as it may be indicative for the presence of pathogens. Our results are congruent with former works as Serotine bat is the main host of EBLV-1. The virus is still present and circulating among these animals in Hungary. Conclusion: Passive surveillance systems are important and effective methods to study bat-borne virus circulation among these flying mammals, especially in urban settings. In the frame of our study, we have found Serotine bats which were infected with the European Bat Lyssavirus. Two new complete genomes of EBLV-1a strain were retrieved from the brains of these bats. |
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| ISSN: | 1201-9712 |