Seasonal Pulses of Marburg Virus Circulation in Juvenile Rousettus aegyptiacus Bats Coincide with Periods of Increased Risk of Human Infection

PLoS Pathogens

Marina L. Khristova¹  Rebekah J. Kent Crockett²  Robert Downing³  Jordan W. Tappero³  Sherif R. Zaki⁴  Christopher D. Paddock⁴  Kelly L. Warfield⁵  Robert Unfer⁵  Robert Swanepoel⁶  Alan Kemp⁶  Edward Katongole-Mbidde⁷  Patrick Atimnedi⁸  Stephen Balinandi⁹  James A. Comer⁹  Bobbie Rae Erickson⁹  Timothy D. Flietstra⁹  Serena A. Carroll⁹  Jonathan S. Towner⁹  Brian R. Amman⁹  Pierre E. Rollin⁹  Deborah L. Cannon⁹  Shelley Campbell⁹  Zachary D. Reed⁹  Thomas G. Ksiazek⁹  Stuart T. Nichol⁹  Tara K. Sealy⁹ 

[1] Biotechnology Core Facility Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America;Division of Vector-borne Diseases, Arbovirus Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America;Global AIDS Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America;Infectious Disease Pathology Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America;Integrated BioTherapeutics, Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States of America;National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Special Pathogens Unit, Johannesburg, South Africa;Uganda Virus Research Institute, Entebbe, Republic of Uganda;Uganda Wildlife Authority, Kampala, Republic of Uganda;Viral Special Pathogens Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America

关键词: Bats;    Marburg virus;    Fruit bats;    Marburg hemorrhagic fever;    Ug;    a;    RNA viruses;    Sequence analysis;    Animal sociality;   

DOI  :  10.1371/journal.ppat.1002877

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: Public Library of Science

【 摘 要 】

Marburg virus (family Filoviridae) causes sporadic outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic disease in sub-Saharan Africa. Bats have been implicated as likely natural reservoir hosts based most recently on an investigation of cases among miners infected in 2007 at the Kitaka mine, Uganda, which contained a large population of Marburg virus-infected Rousettus aegyptiacus fruit bats. Described here is an ecologic investigation of Python Cave, Uganda, where an American and a Dutch tourist acquired Marburg virus infection in December 2007 and July 2008. More than 40,000 R. aegyptiacus were found in the cave and were the sole bat species present. Between August 2008 and November 2009, 1,622 bats were captured and tested for Marburg virus. Q-RT-PCR analysis of bat liver/spleen tissues indicated ∼2.5% of the bats were actively infected, seven of which yielded Marburg virus isolates. Moreover, Q-RT-PCR-positive lung, kidney, colon and reproductive tissues were found, consistent with potential for oral, urine, fecal or sexual transmission. The combined data for R. aegyptiacus tested from Python Cave and Kitaka mine indicate low level horizontal transmission throughout the year. However, Q-RT-PCR data show distinct pulses of virus infection in older juvenile bats (∼six months of age) that temporarily coincide with the peak twice-yearly birthing seasons. Retrospective analysis of historical human infections suspected to have been the result of discrete spillover events directly from nature found 83% (54/65) events occurred during these seasonal pulses in virus circulation, perhaps demonstrating periods of increased risk of human infection. The discovery of two tags at Python Cave from bats marked at Kitaka mine, together with the close genetic linkages evident between viruses detected in geographically distant locations, are consistent with R. aegyptiacus bats existing as a large meta-population with associated virus circulation over broad geographic ranges. These findings provide a basis for developing Marburg hemorrhagic fever risk reduction strategies.

【 授权许可】

CC BY