A rabies-related lyssavirus from a Nycticeinops schlieffeni bat with neurological signs, South Africa

Natalie Viljoen; Arshad Ismail; Jacqueline Weyer; Wanda Markotter

doi:10.1128/MRA.00621-23

A rabies-related lyssavirus from a Nycticeinops schlieffeni bat with neurological signs, South Africa

Microbiol Resour Announc. 2023 Nov 16;12(11):e0062123. doi: 10.1128/MRA.00621-23. Epub 2023 Oct 6.

Authors

Natalie Viljoen^{1

2}, Arshad Ismail^{3

4

5}, Jacqueline Weyer^{1

2

6}, Wanda Markotter¹

Affiliations

¹ Centre for Viral Zoonoses, Department of Medical Virology, University of Pretoria , Pretoria, South Africa.
² Centre for Emerging Zoonotic and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute for Communicable Disease of the National Health Laboratory Service , Sandringham, South Africa.
³ Sequencing Core Facility, National Institute for Communicable Diseases of the National Health Laboratory Service , Sandringham, South Africa.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Faculty of Science, Engineering and Agriculture, University of Venda , Thohoyandou, South Africa.
⁵ Institute for Water and Wastewater Technology, Durban University of Technology , Durban, South Africa.
⁶ Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Witwatersrand , Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstract

We report the coding-complete sequence of a lyssavirus, provisionally designated Phala bat lyssavirus (PBLV), characterized using a metagenomics approach. PBLV was identified in a Nycticeinops schlieffeni bat that exhibited neurological signs and died within 24 hours of admission to a wildlife rehabilitation center in Phalaborwa, South Africa.

Keywords: Lyssavirus; South Africa; bat; neurological; rabies; surveillance.

Abstract

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