Tentative novel lyssavirus in a bat in Finland

Abstract

SummaryA tentative novel member of the genus Lyssavirus, designated as Kotalahti bat lyssavirus, was detected in a Brandt's bat (Myotis brandtii) in Finland. Based on phylogenetic analysis, the virus differs from other known lyssaviruses, being closely related to Khujand virus, Aravan virus, Bokeloh bat lyssavirus and European bat lyssavirus 2. | MATERIALS AND METHODSIn August 2017, a dead bat was found outside a vacation home in Eastern Finland in the municipality of Lepp€ avirta (62°29 0 30″N, 027°47 0 15″E), in the village of Kotalahti. The bat was sent to the Finnish Food Safety Authority Evira for autopsy. The bat was a ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Serological Survey of Lyssaviruses in Polish Bats in the Frame of Passive Rabies Surveillance Using an Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay

“…Partly, this is a result of unknown natural history of each bat species [42], their protected status [43], and the heterogeneous surveillance in Europe, terms of existing networks of bat biologists, the number of bat species submitted, and individual bats investigated [16]. Moreover, the discovery of novel lyssaviruses in European Natterer's bats (BBLV, Myotis nattereri), Schreiber's bent-winged bats (LLEBV, Miniopterus schreibersii), and Brandt's bat (KBLV, Myotis brandtii) [5,9,12] highlights that additional bat species could serve as reservoirs for known or still unknown lyssaviruses in Europe. Therefore, the aim of this study was to enhance our knowledge on the epidemiology of the disease by analyzing the serological status of Polish bats against lyssaviruses, using available samples and a commercialized ELISA [34].…”

Comments to “Detection and phylogenetic characterization of astroviruses in insectivorous bats from Central‐Southern Italy”

“…While rabies virus (RABV), the prototype of lyssaviruses, circulates in insectivorous and vampire bats in the Americas only, European bats act as reservoirs for at least five distinct lyssaviruses, which have been recognized as autonomous virus species within the genus lyssavirus (Walker et al, 2018). Despite evidence for asymptomatic circulation in different bat species (Amengual, Bourhy, López-Roíg, & Serra-Cobo, 2007;Leopardi et al, 2018;Schatz, Ohlendorf, et al, 2014;Serra-Cobo, Amengual, Carlos Abellán, & Bourhy, 2002), each of these five lyssaviruses is associated with mortality in specific bat hosts (Banyard, Evans, Luo, & Fooks, 2014;Nokireki, Tammiranta, Kokkonen, Kantala, & Gadd, 2018). These include the following:…”

Bokeloh bat lyssavirus isolation in a Natterer’s bat, Poland

“…European bat lyssavirus 2 (EBLV‐2) isolated mostly from Daubenton's bats ( Myotis daubentonii ) has also been reported in many European countries (McElhinney et al, ). In addition, single cases of rabies in bats have been reported: West Caucasian bat virus (WCBV) (Kuzmin, Hughes, Botvinkin, Orciari, & Rupprecht, ), Lleida bat lyssavirus (LLEBV) and Kotalahti bat lyssavirus (KBLV) (Aréchiga Ceballos et al, ; Nokireki, Tammiranta, Kokkonen, Kantala, & Gadd, ) in the West Caucasus, on the Iberian peninsula and Finland, respectively. In 2010, a novel lyssavirus was isolated from a Natterer's bat ( Myotis nattereri ) from Germany (Freuling et al, ) and since has been detected several times in Germany and France (Eggerbauer et al, ).…”