Coronaviruses in bats from Mexico

Abstract

Bats are reservoirs for a wide range of human pathogens including Nipah, Hendra, rabies, Ebola, Marburg and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (CoV). The recent implication of a novel beta (b)-CoV as the cause of fatal respiratory disease in the Middle East emphasizes the importance of surveillance for CoVs that have potential to move from bats into the human population. In a screen of 606 bats from 42 different species in Campeche, Chiapas and Mexico City we identified 13 distinct CoVs. Nine were alpha (a)-CoVs; four were b-CoVs. Twelve were novel. Analyses of these viruses in the context of their hosts and ecological habitat indicated that host species is a strong selective driver in CoV evolution, even in allopatric populations separated by significant geographical distance; and that a single species/genus of bat can contain multiple CoVs. A b-CoV with 96.5 % amino acid identity to the b-CoV associated with human disease in the Middle East was found in a Nyctinomops laticaudatus bat, suggesting that efforts to identify the viral reservoir should include surveillance of the bat families Molossidae/Vespertilionidae, or the closely related Nycteridae/Emballonuridae. While it is important to investigate unknown viral diversity in bats, it is also important to remember that the majority of viruses they carry will not pose any clinical risk, and bats should not be stigmatized ubiquitously as significant threats to public health. The GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ accession numbers for the sequences of CoVs determined in this study are KC117184-KC117213.

Highly diversified coronaviruses in neotropical bats

“…A recent study on bat CoVs from Mexico (Anthony et al, 2013) yielded alpha and betacoronaviruses summarized in 13 different clades whose phylogenetic position indicated relatedness to some of the bat CoVs described in this study. Because only short sequence fragments of 243 to 297 nt were available for these bat CoVs and because these sequences did not overlap with our RdRp fragments, these CoVs could not be included in our phylogenetic analyses.…”

“…This species richness contrasts with the scarce information on neotropical bat CoVs. There are only two studies on bat CoVs from the Neotropics, one from Trinidad and Tobago yielding two highly diversified alphacoronaviruses (Carrington et al, 2008) and a recently published second one from Mexico yielding alpha and betacoronaviruses summarized in 13 different clades (Anthony et al, 2013). From the neighbouring temperate northern American areas, additional bat alphacoronavirus clades have been described (Dominguez et al, 2007;Donaldson et al, 2010;Huynh et al, 2012;Misra et al, 2009;Osborne et al, 2011).…”

“…Close relatives of this betacoronavirus termed MERS-CoV and of HCoV-229E exist in Old World bats and HCoV-NL63 could be grown in immortalized bat cells (Annan et al, 2013;de Groot et al, 2013;Drexler et al, 2010;Huynh et al, 2012;Lau et al, 2005;Pfefferle et al, 2009), demonstrating the zoonotic potential of previously reservoir-bound bat CoVs. The recent description of a bat CoV related to MERS-CoV in Mexican bats (Anthony et al, 2013) emphasized the relevance of investigating neotropical bats for CoVs.…”

Dengue Virus in Bats from Southeastern Mexico

“…[8][9][10][11][12] Flaviviridae are the second most frequently reported viral family in the order Chiroptera (13% frequency; second only to rhabdoviruses) 9 ; however, their role in the dynamics of DENVs remains poorly understood. DENV have been reported in large frugivorous bats (Pteropus genus) in Australia.…”

Highlights and conclusions from the technical consultative meeting on novel coronavirus infection, Cairo, Egypt, 14-16 January 2013

“…Bats and dates were the main focus of investigation. Bats were targeted because of the genetic relatedness of the nCoV to coronaviruses previously found in bats in Mexico and elsewhere [9]. Bat CoVHKU9, bovine respiratory CoV and Kenya Idoline bat viruses were detected among the 755 oral, rectal and serological samples from insectivorous bats collected in the Bisha area of Saudi Arabia and tested in the United States of America (USA) in October.…”