PLoS ONE (Jul 2009)

Henipavirus RNA in African bats.

  • Jan Felix Drexler,
  • Victor Max Corman,
  • Florian Gloza-Rausch,
  • Antje Seebens,
  • Augustina Annan,
  • Anne Ipsen,
  • Thomas Kruppa,
  • Marcel A Müller,
  • Elisabeth K V Kalko,
  • Yaw Adu-Sarkodie,
  • Samuel Oppong,
  • Christian Drosten

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0006367
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 4, no. 7
p. e6367

Abstract

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BackgroundHenipaviruses (Hendra and Nipah virus) are highly pathogenic members of the family Paramyxoviridae. Fruit-eating bats of the Pteropus genus have been suggested as their natural reservoir. Human Henipavirus infections have been reported in a region extending from Australia via Malaysia into Bangladesh, compatible with the geographic range of Pteropus. These bats do not occur in continental Africa, but a whole range of other fruit bats is encountered. One of the most abundant is Eidolon helvum, the African Straw-coloured fruit bat.Methodology/principal findingsFeces from E. helvum roosting in an urban setting in Kumasi/Ghana were tested for Henipavirus RNA. Sequences of three novel viruses in phylogenetic relationship to known Henipaviruses were detected. Virus RNA concentrations in feces were low.Conclusions/significanceThe finding of novel putative Henipaviruses outside Australia and Asia contributes a significant extension of the region of potential endemicity of one of the most pathogenic virus genera known in humans.