Serological evidence of hantavirus infection in neotropical bats in an urban area of São Paulo State, Brazil

Abstract

Background: Although hantaviruses have long been associated with rodents, they are also described in other mammalian hosts, such as shrews, moles and bats. Hantaviruses associated with bats have been described in Asian, European and Brazilian species of bats. As these mammals represent the second major mammalian order, and they are the major mammals that inhabit urban areas, it is extremely important to maintain a viral surveillance in these animals. Our aim was to conduct serosurveillance in bats in an urban area in the city of Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo State, Brazil, to contribute to the information about hantaviruses circulation in bats.

Methods: We analyzed samples from 778 neotropical bat specimens classified into 21 bat species and four different families collected in the urban area of Ribeirão Preto city, from 2014 to 2019 by an ELISA for the detection of IgG antibodies against orthohantavirus.

Results: We detected IgG-specific antibodies against the nucleoprotein of orthohantavirus in 0.9% (7/778) bats tested, including four Molossus molossus (Pallas' Free-tailed Bat), two Glossophaga soricina (Pallas's Long-tongued Bat) and one Eumops glaucinus (Wagner's mastiff bat).

Conclusions: Overall, our results show the first serological evidence of hantavirus infection in three common bat species in urban areas.

Keywords: bat-borne viruses; neotropical bats; orthohantavirus; serosurvey.