First cases of European bat lyssavirus type 1 in Iberian serotine bats: Implications for the molecular epidemiology of bat rabies in Europe

Abstract

Previous studies have shown that EBLV-1 strains exclusively hosted by Eptesicus isabellinus bats in the Iberian Peninsula cluster in a specific monophyletic group that is related to the EBLV-1b lineage found in the rest of Europe. More recently, enhanced passive surveillance has allowed the detection of the first EBLV-1 strains associated to Eptesicus serotinus south of the Pyrenees. The aim of this study is the reconstruction of the EBLV-1 phylogeny and phylodynamics in the Iberian Peninsula in the context of the European continent. We have sequenced 23 EBLV-1 strains detected on nine E. serotinus and 14 E. isabellinus. Phylogenetic analyses were performed on the first 400-bp-5’ fragment of the Nucleoprotein (N) gene together with other 162 sequences from Europe. Besides, fragments of the variable region of the phosphoprotein (P) gene and the glycoprotein-polymerase (G-L) intergenic region were studied on Spanish samples. Phylogenies show that two of the new EBLV-1a strains from Iberian E. serotinus clustered together with French strains from the North of the Pyrenees, suggesting a recent expansion southwards of this subtype. The remaining seven Iberian strains from E. serotinus grouped, instead, within the cluster linked, so far, to E. isabellinus, indicating that spatial distribution prevails over species specificity in explaining rabies distribution and supporting interspecific transmission. The structure found within the Iberian Peninsula for EBLV-1b is in concordance with that described previously for E. isabellinus. Finally, we have found that the current EBLV-1 European strains could have emerged only 175 years ago according to our evolutionary dynamics analyses.

Comparative phylogeography and asymmetric hybridization between cryptic bat species

“…Eptesicus serotinus and E. isabellinus host distinct and characteristic EBLV‐1 virus strains, each with a different phylogenetic history (Vázquez‐Morón et al, ). A recent study has reported the first detection of an EBLV‐1 of the strain considered typical of E. isabellinus in an E. serotinus bat from northeastern Spain (Mingo‐Casas et al, ). The sequence of this virus is close to a known southern sequence of the virus, which suggests a recent transmission from E. isabellinus to E. serotinus, in agreement with the direction of the asymmetrical hybridization described in our study.…”

Tackling the Threat of Rabies Reintroduction in Europe

“…Moreover, the other two lyssaviruses, WCBV and LLEBV, are linked to bats of the family Miniopteridae ( 30 ). Of these, only EBLV-1 and EBLV-2 have been reported to have caused rabies in humans, and more than 90% of the bat rabies cases have been associated with the bat species Eptesicus serotinus ( E. serotinus ) infected by EBLV-1 ( 12 ). The last European Union One Health 2018 Zoonoses Report confirmed bats as a reservoir for rabies in Europe, as it was present in 2% of the bats sampled ( 31 ).…”

“…During 1998–2003, a study of EBLV-1 viruses from E. isabellinus in southern Spain revealed the close communities in which EBLV-1 independently circulates, and yet distinct from other EBLV-1 strains circulating in the serotine bats ( 41 ). In addition, recent studies have demonstrated the geographical expansion of EBLV-1 in E. serotinus and E. isabellinus across Iberian Peninsula from Europe ( 12 ). In 2011, a new lyssavirus was confirmed in a M. schreibersii in the City of Lleida (north-eastern Spain), analysed as part of the rabies surveillance programme in Spain ( 42 ).…”

El laboratorio en la vigilancia, el control y la investigación de la rabia en España. La experiencia del Centro Nacional de Microbiología

“…Otra serie de estudios del CNM se han centrado en la filogeografía del EBLV-1 a nivel europeo e ibérico Mingo, 2018). Existen dos subtipos de EBLV-1, el 1a, muy homogéneo y ampliamente distribuido de este a oeste desde Holanda hasta Rusia y Ucrania, con un subclado disyunto en el sur de Francia y el 1b, exclusivo de Holanda, extremo sur de Alemania y especialmente Francia, donde presenta varios subclados geográficos (Troupin, 2017;Mingo, 2018). En nuestros trabajos hemos encontrado que las cepas ibéricas forman un clado independiente dentro del subtipo 1b con cierta aparente estructura geográfica interna.…”