Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Complex Alphavirus in Bats, French Guiana

Carlo Fischer; Dominique Pontier; Ondine Filippi-Codaccioni; Jean-Batiste Pons; Ignacio Postigo-Hidalgo; Jeanne Duhayer; Sebastian Brünink; Jan Felix Drexler

doi:10.3201/eid2704.202676

Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis Complex Alphavirus in Bats, French Guiana

Emerg Infect Dis. 2021 Apr;27(4):1141-1145. doi: 10.3201/eid2704.202676.

Authors

Carlo Fischer, Dominique Pontier, Ondine Filippi-Codaccioni, Jean-Batiste Pons, Ignacio Postigo-Hidalgo, Jeanne Duhayer, Sebastian Brünink, Jan Felix Drexler

Abstract

Although essential for control strategies, knowledge about transmission cycles is limited for Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex alphaviruses (VEEVs). After testing 1,398 bats from French Guiana for alphaviruses, we identified and isolated a new strain of the encephalitogenic VEEV species Tonate virus (TONV). Bats may contribute to TONV spread in Latin America.

Keywords: French Guiana; Tonate virus; Venezuelan equine encephalitis complex alphavirus; bats; meningitis/encephalitis; viruses.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Alphavirus*
Animals
Chiroptera*
Encephalitis Virus, Venezuelan Equine*
Encephalomyelitis, Venezuelan Equine*
French Guiana
Horses