Epidemiology and Molecular Characterization of Rotavirus A in Fruit Bats in Bangladesh.

Ariful Islam1,2 Mohammad Enayet Hossain3 Melinda K Rostal1 Jinnat Ferdous1,4 Ausraful Islam3 Rashedul Hasan3 Mojnu Miah3 Mustafizur Rahman3 Mohammed Ziaur Rahman3 Peter Daszak1 Jonathan H Epstein5
Affiliations 5 institutions
  1. EcoHealth Alliance, 460 West 34th Street, Suite 17, New York, NY, 10001, USA.
  2. Centre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia.
  3. International Centre for Diarrheal Diseases Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b), Dhaka, Bangladesh.
  4. Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), Mohakhali, Dhaka, 1212, Bangladesh.
  5. EcoHealth Alliance, 460 West 34th Street, Suite 17, New York, NY, 10001, USA. [email protected].

Abstract

Rotavirus A (RVA) is the primary cause of acute dehydrating diarrhea in human and numerous animal species. Animal-to-human interspecies transmission is one of the evolutionary mechanisms driving rotavirus strain diversity in humans. We screened fresh feces from 416 bats (201 Pteropus medius, 165 Rousettus leschenaultii and 50 Taphozous melanopogon) for RVA using rRT-PCR. We detected a prevalence of 7% (95% CI 3.5-10.8) and 2% (95% CI 0.4-5.2) in P. medius and R. leschenaultii, respectively. We did not detect RVA in the insectivorous bat (T. melanopogon). We identified RVA strains similar to the human strains of G1 and G8 based on sequence-based genotyping, which underscores the importance of including wildlife species in surveillance for zoonotic pathogens to understand pathogen transmission and evolution better.

Supporting text Virus Host Location
G1 1 G8 1 Pteropus medius 5 Rotavirus A 12 Rousettus leschenaultii 1 Taphozous melanopogon 1 Animals 1948 Bangladesh 25 Chiroptera 371 Feces 113 Molecular Diagnostic Techniques 2 Population Surveillance 8 Rotavirus 65 Rotavirus Infections 61

Evidence records

4 total
Zoonotic Surveillance
3 records · 1 evidence types
Evidence type
3 records
OVE4106
Key finding

Rotavirus A was detected by rRT-PCR in fecal samples from Pteropus medius bats in Bangladesh, with an estimated prevalence of 7%.

Virus
Host
Location
Supporting text

Epidemiology and Molecular Characterization of Rotavirus A in Fruit Bats in Bangladesh. We screened fresh feces from 416 bats (201 Pteropus medius, 165 Rousettus leschenaultii and 50 Taphozous melanopogon) for RVA using rRT-PCR. We detected a prevalence of 7% (95% CI 3.5-10.8) and 2% (95% CI 0.4-5.2) in P. medius and R. leschenaultii, respectively.

Method
rRT-PCR
Sample type
feces | fresh feces
Geographic raw
Bangladesh
Country inferred
BGD
OVE4107
Key finding

Rotavirus A was detected by rRT-PCR in fecal samples from Rousettus leschenaultii bats in Bangladesh, with an estimated prevalence of 2%.

Virus
Host
Location
Supporting text

Epidemiology and Molecular Characterization of Rotavirus A in Fruit Bats in Bangladesh. We screened fresh feces from 416 bats (201 Pteropus medius, 165 Rousettus leschenaultii and 50 Taphozous melanopogon) for RVA using rRT-PCR. We detected a prevalence of 7% (95% CI 3.5-10.8) and 2% (95% CI 0.4-5.2) in P. medius and R. leschenaultii, respectively.

Method
rRT-PCR
Sample type
feces | fresh feces
Geographic raw
Bangladesh
Country inferred
BGD
OVE4108
Key finding

No Rotavirus A was detected by rRT-PCR in fecal samples from Taphozous melanopogon bats in Bangladesh.

Virus
Host
Location
Supporting text

Epidemiology and Molecular Characterization of Rotavirus A in Fruit Bats in Bangladesh. We did not detect RVA in the insectivorous bat (T. melanopogon).

Method
rRT-PCR
Sample type
feces | fresh feces
Geographic raw
Bangladesh
Country inferred
BGD
Genomic Evolution
1 records · 1 evidence types
Evidence type
1 records
OVE4109
Key finding

Bat Rotavirus A strains in Bangladesh showed genotypes closely related to human G1 and G8 lineages based on sequence-based genotyping analysis.

Virus
Host
Location
Not specified
Supporting text

We identified RVA strains similar to the human strains of G1 and G8 based on sequence-based genotyping.

Analysis methods
sequence-based genotyping