Studies of reservoir hosts for Marburg virus.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Swanepoel R
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2876776 | biostudies-literature |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Similar Datasets
Project description:Bats are increasingly recognized as reservoirs of emerging zoonotic pathogens. Egyptian rousette bats (ERBs) are the known reservoir of Marburg virus (MARV), a filovirus that causes deadly Marburg virus disease (MVD) in humans. However, ERBs harbor MARV asymptomatically, likely due to a coadapted and specific host immunity-pathogen relationship. Recently, we measured transcriptional responses in MARV-infected ERB whole tissues, showing that these bats possess a disease tolerant strategy that limits pro-inflammatory gene induction, presumably averting MVD-linked immunopathology. However, the host resistant strategy by which ERBs actively limit MARV burden remains elusive, which we hypothesize requires localized inflammatory responses unresolvable at bulk-tissue scale. Here, we use dexamethasone to attenuate ERB pro-inflammatory responses and assess MARV replication, shedding and disease. We show that MARV-infected ERBs naturally mount coordinated pro-inflammatory responses at liver foci of infection, comprised of recruited mononuclear phagocytes and T cells, the latter of which proliferate with likely MARV-specificity. When pro-inflammatory responses are diminished, ERBs display heightened MARV replication, oral/rectal shedding and severe MVD-like liver pathology, demonstrating that ERBs balance immunoprotective tolerance with discreet MARV-resistant pro-inflammatory responses. These data further suggest that natural ERB immunomodulatory stressors like food scarcity and habitat disruption may potentiate viral shedding, transmission and therefore outbreak risk.
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Project description:Borna disease virus (BDV) is the causative agent of severe T-cell-mediated meningoencephalitis in horses, sheep, and other animal species in central Europe. Here we report the first unequivocal detection of a BDV reservoir species, the bicolored white-toothed shrew, Crocidura leucodon, in an area in Switzerland with endemic Borna disease.
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Project description:BackgroundBats are increasingly being recognized as important hosts for viruses, some of which are zoonotic and carry the potential for spillover within human and livestock populations. Biosurveillance studies focused on assessing the risk of pathogen transmission, however, have largely focused on the virological component and have not always considered the ecological implications of different species as viral hosts. The movements of known viral hosts are an important component for disease risk assessments as they can potentially identify regions of higher risk of contact and spillover. As such, this study aimed to synthesize data from both virological and ecological fields to provide a more holistic assessment of the risk of pathogen transmission from bats to people.ResultsUsing radiotelemetry, we tracked the small-scale movements of Rousettus aegyptiacus, a species of bat known to host Marburg virus and other viruses with zoonotic potential, in a rural settlement in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The tracked bats exhibited seasonal variations in their movement patterns including variable usage of residential areas which could translate to contact between bats and humans and may facilitate spillover. We identified a trend for increased usage of residential areas during the winter months with July specifically experiencing the highest levels of bat activity within residential areas. July has previously been identified as a key period for increased spillover risk for viruses associated with R. aegyptiacus from this colony and paired with the increased activity levels, illustrates the risk for spillover to human populations.ConclusionThis study emphasizes the importance of incorporating ecological data such as movement patterns with virological data to provide a better understanding of the risk of pathogen spillover and transmission.
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Project description:Previous human cases or epidemics have suggested that Monkeypox virus (MPXV) can be transmitted through contact with animals of African rainforests. Although MPXV has been identified in many mammal species, most are likely secondary hosts, and the reservoir host has yet to be discovered. In this study, we provide the full list of African mammal genera (and species) in which MPXV was previously detected, and predict the geographic distributions of all species of these genera based on museum specimens and an ecological niche modelling (ENM) method. Then, we reconstruct the ecological niche of MPXV using georeferenced data on animal MPXV sequences and human index cases, and conduct overlap analyses with the ecological niches inferred for 99 mammal species, in order to identify the most probable animal reservoir. Our results show that the MPXV niche covers three African rainforests: the Congo Basin, and Upper and Lower Guinean forests. The four mammal species showing the best niche overlap with MPXV are all arboreal rodents, including three squirrels: Funisciurus anerythrus, Funisciurus pyrropus, Heliosciurus rufobrachium, and Graphiurus lorraineus. We conclude that the most probable MPXV reservoir is F. anerythrus based on two niche overlap metrics, the areas of higher probabilities of occurrence, and available data on MPXV detection.
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Project description:Marburg virus (MARV) is a highly contagious and virulent agent belonging to Filoviridae family. MARV causes severe hemorrhagic fever in humans and non-human primates. Owing to its highly virulent nature, preventive approaches are promising for its control. There is currently no approved drug or vaccine against MARV, and management mainly involves supportive care to treat symptoms and prevent complications. Our aim was to design a novel multi-epitope vaccine (MEV) against MARV using immunoinformatics studies. In this study, various proteins (VP35, VP40 and glycoprotein precursor) were used and potential epitopes were selected. CTL and HTL epitopes covered 79.44% and 70.55% of the global population, respectively. The designed MEV construct was stable and expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) host. The physicochemical properties were also acceptable. MARV MEV candidate could predict comprehensive immune responses such as those of humoral and cellular in silico. Additionally, efficient interaction to toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) and its agonist (β-defensin) was predicted. There is a need for validation of these results using further in vitro and in vivo studies.
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Project description:Bats of the genus Pteropus have been identified as the reservoir hosts for the henipaviruses Hendra virus (HeV) and Nipah virus (NiV). The aim of these studies was to assess likely mechanisms for henipaviruses transmission from bats. In a series of experiments, Pteropus bats from Malaysia and Australia were inoculated with NiV and HeV, respectively, by natural routes of infection. Despite an intensive sampling strategy, no NiV was recovered from the Malaysian bats and HeV was reisolated from only one Australian bat; no disease was seen. These experiments suggest that opportunities for henipavirus transmission may be limited; therefore, the probability of a spillover event is low. For spillover to occur, a range of conditions and events must coincide. An alternate assessment framework is required if we are to fully understand how this reservoir host maintains and transmits not only these but all viruses with which it has been associated.
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Project description:In 2021, a patient died from Marburg virus (MARV) disease in Guinea and it was the first confirmed case in West Africa. The origin of the outbreak has not been identified. It was revealed that the patient didn't travel anywhere before the illness. Prior to outbreak, MARV had been found in bats in the neighboring Sierra Leone, but never in Guinea. Therefore, the origin of infection is unclear: was it an autochthonous case with spillover from a local population of bats or an imported case with spillover from fruit bats foraging/migrating from Sierra Leone? In this paper, we studied Rousettus aegyptiacus in Guinea as the possible source of MARV infection caused the patient death in 2021 in Guinea. We caught bats in 32 sites of Guéckédou prefecture, including seven caves and 25 locations of the flight path. A total of 501 fruit bats (Pteropodidae) were captured, including 66 R. aegyptiacus. The PCR screening showed three positive MARV R. aegyptiacus, roosting in two caves discovered in Guéckédou prefecture. After Sanger sequencing and phylogenetic analyses it was shown that found MARV belongs to the Angola-like lineage but it is not identical to the isolate obtained during the outbreak of 2021.
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