Circulation of group 2 coronaviruses in a bat species common to urban areas in Western Europe.
Chantal B E M Reusken1
Peter H C Lina
Annemarie Pielaat
Ankje de Vries
Cecile Dam-Deisz
Jeroen Adema
Jan Felix Drexler
Christian Drosten
Engbert A Kooi
Affiliations1 institutions
National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, The Netherlands. [email protected]
Fecal samples of 211 bats representing 13 different bat species from 31 locations in the Netherlands were analyzed for the presence of coronaviruses (CoV) using a genus-wide reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction. CoVs are known for their high potential for interspecies transmission, including zoonotic transmission with bats as reservoir hosts. For the first time, a group 2 CoV was found in a bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, in Europe. This is of particular interest for public health as the reservoir host is a species that is common to urban areas in most of Europe and notorious for its close interactions with humans. Four verspertilionid bat species were found to excrete group 1 CoVs, viz. Myotis daubentonii, M. dasycneme, P. pipistrellus, and Nyctalus noctula. The last species is a newly identified reservoir. The overall prevalence was 16.9% and positive bats were found at multiple widespread locations. The circulating group 1 CoV lineages were rather species associated than location associated.
For the first time, a group 2 CoV was found in a bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, in Europe. This is of particular interest for public health as the reservoir host is a species that is common to urban areas in most of Europe and notorious for its close interactions with humans.
Four verspertilionid bat species were found to excrete group 1 CoVs, viz. Myotis daubentonii, M. dasycneme, P. pipistrellus, and Nyctalus noctula. The last species is a newly identified reservoir.
Four vespertilionid bat species were found to excrete group 1 CoVs, viz. Myotis daubentonii, M. dasycneme, P. pipistrellus, and Nyctalus noctula. The circulating group 1 CoV lineages were rather species associated than location associated.
Analysis methods
classification; lineage analysis
Zoonotic Surveillance1 records
Zoonotic SurveillanceExtraction confidence 0.95
Key finding
RT-PCR surveillance of bat fecal samples in the Netherlands detected group 2 coronaviruses in Pipistrellus pipistrellus, an urban bat species.
Fecal samples of 211 bats representing 13 different bat species from 31 locations in the Netherlands were analyzed for the presence of coronaviruses (CoV) using a genus-wide reverse transcription (RT)-polymerase chain reaction. For the first time, a group 2 CoV was found in a bat, Pipistrellus pipistrellus, in Europe.
