Detection of Alphacoronavirus vRNA in the Feces of Brazilian Free-Tailed Bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) from a Colony in Florida, USA

Abstract

Bats are natural reservoirs of coronaviruses and other viruses with zoonotic potential. Florida has indigenous non-migratory populations of Brazilian free-tailed bats (Tadarida brasiliensis) that mostly roost in colonies in artificial structures. Unlike their counterparts in Brazil and Mexico, the viruses harbored by the Florida bats have been underexplored. We report the detection of an alphacoronavirus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene sequence in the feces of two of 19 different T. brasiliensis that were capture/release bats that had been evaluated for overall health. The RdRp sequence is similar but not identical to previously detected sequences in the feces of two different species of bats (T. brasiliensis and Molossus molossus) in Brazil. In common with the experience of others doing similar work, attempts to isolate the virus in cell cultures were unsuccessful. We surmise that this and highly related alphacoronavirus are carried by Brazilian free-tailed bats living in a wide eco-spatial region. As various coronaviruses (CoVs) that affect humans emerged from bats, our study raises the question whether CoVs such as the one detected in our work are yet-to-be-detected pathogens of humans and animals other than bats.

Metagenomic analysis of fecal and tissue samples from 18 endemic bat species in Switzerland revealed a diverse virus composition including potentially zoonotic viruses

“…Such virus sequences were indeed detected and belonged to either the alpha- or betacoronaviruses while no gamma- or deltacoronaviruses were detected in the samples. This finding was consistent with the results of previous studies in other geographical locations [ 32 , 40 , 48 , 54 , 89 , 98 , 99 ] and the common knowledge about host preferences of the different coronaviruses; alpha- and betacoronaviruses mainly infect mammals including humans while the gamma- and deltacoronaviruses infect birds [ 6 , 100 ]. However, so far none of the coronaviruses detected in European bats were 100% identical to human pathogenic viruses such as SARS-CoV-1, MERS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 [ 32 ].…”

First Report of Alphacoronavirus Circulating in Cavernicolous Bats from Portugal

“…Bat CoVs are known to be excreted at higher viral loads in stools, making the enteric route a major environmental source for the CoV spillover events [ 34 ]. The CoVs detected in this present study were detected mostly in feces, confirming the enteric route of transmission as the most significant, being consistent with other studies with bats [ 35 , 36 ]. The fecal-oral route has also been described in CoVs from other animals such as with feline coronavirus (FCoV), canine coronavirus (CoV) and swine coronavirus (SADS-CoV)—all of them classified as Alpha-CoV.…”