Identification of an unclassified paramyxovirus in Coleura afra: a potential case of host specificity

PLoS One. 2014 Dec 31;9(12):e115588. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0115588. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Bats are known to harbor multiple paramyxoviruses. Despite the creation of two new genera, Aquaparamyxovirus and Ferlavirus, to accommodate this increasing diversity, several recently isolated or characterized viruses remain unclassified beyond the subfamily level. In the present study, among 985 bats belonging to 6 species sampled in the Belinga caves of Gabon, RNA of an unclassified paramyxovirus (Belinga bat virus, BelPV) was discovered in 14 African sheath-tailed bats (Coleura afra), one of which exhibited several hemorrhagic lesions at necropsy, and viral sequence was obtained in two animals. Phylogenetically, BelPV is related to J virus and Beilong virus (BeiPV), two other unclassified paramyxoviruses isolated from rodents. In the diseased BelPV-infected C. afra individual, high viral load was detected in the heart, and the lesions were consistent with those reported in wild rodents and mice experimentally infected by J virus. BelPV was not detected in other tested bat species sharing the same roosting sites and living in very close proximity with C. afra in the two caves sampled, suggesting that this virus may be host-specific for C. afra. The mode of transmission of this paramyxovirus in bat populations remains to be discovered.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Chiroptera / virology*
  • Host Specificity*
  • Organ Specificity
  • Paramyxovirinae / classification
  • Paramyxovirinae / isolation & purification*
  • Paramyxovirinae / physiology
  • Phylogeny

Grants and funding

This work was supported by Global Viral Forecasting, a ‘Fonds de Solidarité Prioritaire’’ grant from the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères de la France (FSP n° 2002005700). CIRMF is supported by the government of Gabon, Total-Fina-Elf Gabon, and the Ministère des Affaires Etrangères de la France. This study was also made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Emerging Pandemic Threats PREDICT. The contents are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.